The Heroes of Greece and Rome: Book One: The Weavers of Fate
by StikLover2
Summary: It has been two years since the fall of Gaea. Life continues, but at what cost? The camps are at peace, demigods come and go, and a new start is occurring for the Seven and friends. Beware; ancient enemies, more powerful than Gaea, are stirring. Night is falling, and the world will turn. What will it really cost for true peace? Follow the continuing journeys of the Seven!
1. I: Annabeth

***November 13, 2014 Chapter Re-Edit. I've reedited this chapter. Please do reread it. Like I said, I would reedit the chapters mentioned sometime. Chapters 2-4, and 9 are up for reedit shortly.**

**Please do reread this chapter if you have read it before. **

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><p><strong>*Original Notes:<strong>

**Hey all! This is StikLover2 reporting in! Who here has seen Blood of Olympus? I have! I liked it, but the lack of Percy and Annabeth chapters worried me greatly. Overall, the book was AWESOME, as Uncle Rick could make it ;D. Also, that REALLY cheesy ending with Gaea's defeat, bleh. She went down WAYYY too easy. Anyway, I know we are all upset over the end of Percy Jackson... But that's why I'm here! I want to continue the Heroes of Olympus Saga in my own way! I have plenty of time on my hands, and plan to create many series continuing the adventures of the Seven. This will be following canon, since I wish this to be a continuity. With dozens more primordials and enemies for the Seven to face, there's plenty for me to write about!**

**Also, I would like to state this is my VERY FIRST time ever writing on fanfiction, and in public as well. I ask you all to be patient, and I appreciate reviews commentating me on how to write better! I would love that! **

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Rick Riordian... (Do we really have to say this in every chapter?)**

_**Also, I added this as T, because I'm not sure how the story is going to go... I could be wrong though, just let me know! I'm quite nervous, so just let me know if I've gotten characters wrong and so on, this is my first time ever, as I stated earlier. Now, without further ado, the story of the Seven, plus friends! I thought you all were quite deprived from a lack of Percy/Annabeth chapters, so without further ado...  
><strong>_

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><p><strong>I: Annabeth<strong>

**Annabeth really hated books,** which was new, considering she was supposed to be the all-wise daughter of Athena. But no, that spider just HAD to jump out of that book she was reading over the works of Sophocles, giving her a heart attack. With a shriek, she swatted the spider with the book. The satisfying 'skhhh' of spider grease did little to calm her nerves. Annabeth always did like books though, it gave her an escape to a world, previously unknown. Just the thought made her smile. It was a warm day in New Athens, and she was curled up in the villa she shared with Percy. They were planning to move to New Rome next week, after Percy had finished up loose ends here in New York. It had been two years since the defeat of Gaea, and demigods Roman and Greek alike were enjoying life. Well, besides the usual apocalyptic ending of the world, things were going pretty well.

Annabeth's mind wandered back to her boyfriend, that handsome son of Poseidon... Well, now fiance to be exact. And now the most important person in Annabeth's life. _Oh Percy..._ She and Percy had come so far, from the depths of the underworld, to the defeat of the Earth Mother, Gaea, two years prior. Now, they were living in New Athens, capital of the modern Greek world. New Athens was beautiful, with various lush, green gardens and colorful decorations dotting the landscape. From the window, Annabeth could see various streets, including the newly erected Temple Street, which was in charge of Jason, of course. Their _pontifex maximus_ was always busy working with the various architects and builders to erect more temples to various gods and goddesses in both camps. Power to the people! Or totally eternal immortals, whichever worked better.

Temple Street was decorated with so many different designs, each corresponding to a specific god or goddess. Moros, Oizys, that Kym girl, you name it. Gilded shrines all overlapped each other in harmony and peace. Apparently all these shrines made the gods happy, after all, they still haven't tried to incinerate anyone in months really. Well, except for that time in Rio, but whatever. Jason was_ soooooooo_ busy these days, doing stuff and whatever. Considering angry immortals were complaining to him often, Annabeth thought he was doing his job pretty well. He always did have time for Piper though, and it was a surprise he still hadn't gotten the nerve to propose to her yet. It was obvious they loved each other, and that just had to make Annabeth smile. At least it wasn't so bad in public, Capture the Flag was where it started getting annoying.

The Seven had always been close, more so after the loss of Leo. "_Leo..._" Annabeth thought. The hero who sacrificed himself to defeat Gaea, ensuring a future for the world. That aside, both camps were enjoying a prosperity of peace following Gaea's defeat, with more demigods and legacies joining every day. Camp Half-Blood had expanded as well to meet all the new accommodations, and peace reigned upon all the land. Man, she was reading WAY too many literacy works these days. But enough was never enough for Annabeth, she was a daughter of Athena after all! Her publishing business on the side was turning out a surprisingly large amount of drachmas. Who knew demigods loved to write? True enough it was weird, but still nice. Athenian Architecture INC. was taking off, with Annabeth at the helm. Well, not literally on the helm of a-, well, whatever.

Annabeth's mind wandered to other places. With a shudder, she reflected on the horrible experiences she had in the era of the Giant War. Visions of Percy's mutilated, broken corpse, rushed through her mind. _Burn, pain, death_, all echoed through her conscious. With a shudder, she barely stifled a shriek. Tartarus had changed her, as well as Percy. The memories of the burning pit, as well as Bob and Damasen, hit her like a brick. It was hard for her to fight these dying nightmares, but thankfully she had the consolation that they didn't exist... Right? It was basically like an eidolon or something, always behind you, whispering and watching. Annabeth jumped off the couch, and walked into the kitchen. The whole thing was messy, all thanks to that intense party last night. Stifling a groan, Annabeth knew she was going to have to clean it all. Eh, maybe later.

Picking up a rag, Annabeth attempted cleaning up the countertop, and failing especially at that. Who said cleaning wasn't her forte? The granite countertops shuddered under the wet rag, with a "sh sh" sound. Groaning, Annabeth clutched her head. The memories of _that place_ still hadn't left Annabeth's mind, rushing through her like the course of a stream. Dang, being around her fiance was giving her one water pun too many. That place had caused her many sleepless nights, but having Percy there did help. Annabeth loved him with all her heart, he was her only window to retain her sanity in this world. She was willing to die for Percy. Although she was pretty sure that already happened a few times. The poison knife, empousai, Kerkopes, you name it really. Ah, the things you do for true love. Sure, these things are screwy, but still worth it.

Chucking the rag over the counter, Annabeth decided to hop outside. Visiting the Athena Parthenos didn't seem like a bad idea at the moment. With a yawn, Annabeth stretched and walked out of the door of her humble adobe. It had been designed by her of course, along with nearly every building in New Athens. Buildings to last forever! Something permanent, as she had always dreamed. With a quick tap on her door, emboldened with a trident and owl entwined together, Annabeth set off. She was hoping to meet Percy at the acropolis after his sword lessons. Even though he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, she had to agree, he was certainly awesome when it came to combat instruction. Yes, Annabeth knew she said awesome, but whatever. It was too nice of a day anyway, the least she could do is take a break from all that braininess.

The bright sun hit her, blinding her eyes. The city of New Athens greeted her, the birds were flying and the nymphs were singing. Annabeth was thankful she didn't have to encounter man-eating birds yet again. That experience was one time too many. The smell of various bakeries and flower shops wafted down her nose. There was so much peace, the demigods strolling down the various alleys and roadways looked SO happy. Annabeth really wished it could stay like this forever. Double-checking that her hair was tightly wrapped in a bun, she started jogging at a brisk pace down Olivian Avenue, with carefree thoughts in her mind. Stretching across the horizon was the shrine of the Athena Parthenos, restored back to its rightful place. Especially after Reyna returned with it, it was partying up an whole street by itself. Not to mention it was well-guarded with several phalanxes of demigods rotating on shifts. Sure, it might be overkill, but you can never be too safe!

Athena Parthenos shined with all its glory as Annabeth walked up the steps of the shrine. It wasn't too far from her house, only maybe a block or so. Gilded columns racked the one-hundred feet long structure, with steps gliding up to the statue itself. It glowed bright golden, with whispering voices protruding from it. Annabeth felt a swell of pride, it better have been worth it since she plunged into Tartarus for that statue. The dark god was torturous, trying to break her mind. What was even worse was his promise of revenge, whispering cries of vengeance. Percy wasn't far off from that, considering they actually had to get counseling or something. Sure, it was kind of cheesy, but hey, it helped. Sometimes, Annabeth would hear her mother's voice coming from the Parthenos, reassuring her. Well, sure she lived on top of a giant building not far away, but still.

Even on the blackest nights, the statue glowed with hope and promise for a better future. That's what Reyna supposedly said when Annabeth spoke to her last week. Their newly-finished villa in New Rome was rocking pretty sweet. Apparently one year wasn't enough for Percy to finish up here in New York. Guaranteed most of the time was spent visiting Sally. Okay, a lot of the time. Senior year wasn't too bad really, your usual annoying mortals, but nothing a few punches to the face couldn't solve. The statue seemed to glow with a snort, most probably patting Annabeth on the back if it could. Or Athena could take control of it, who knew? Shrugging it off, Annabeth backed out of the shrine, back into the streets of New Athens. Eh, she would go wherever she needed to go. Basically, random stuff and all. Whistling to herself, Annabeth turned her wandering mind to some complex math equations she was meaning to solve.

Unfortunately, that wandering mind failed to notice an impending collision. "Wam!" Annabeth collided into the side of Piper, who coincidentally happened to be jogging across the pavement as well. "Annabeth!" exclaimed Piper. "Percy, h-he, need-needs you!" Annabeth felt compelled to obey, showing that Piper was worried, considering her charmspeak really didn't come out all that much these days. "Calm down Pipes, I was just going over to see him!" stated Annabeth. In her mind, Annabeth was worried about what could possibly be going on. Commotions were rare in New Athens these days, since doomsday has occurred more times than anyone else could care to count. But hey, everyone needs some spice in their life. Her stormy, gray eyes just turned a shade darker. Ah, the joys of being an all-powerful demigod, it's a no-brainer.

With a rush, she and Piper ran down to the acropolis, swerving in and out of countless vendors, ignoring the curses of mixed Greek and Roman dialect. They could hear rising voices coming from the acropolis on the horizon. Annabeth had designed New Athens to incorporate much of what lay in the original Athens. It did help they conveniently happened to stay there during their "World is Ending" themed vacation. But hey, demigods can't be beggars. Annabeth noticed several phalanxes of Greek demigods assembling in formation, also rushing toward the acropolis. To say in general, everyone was panicking. What could possibly make hundreds of well armed Greeks start running around like crazy demons? "Back up!" yelled one of the vendors, hightailing his cart out of there like a cyclops chasing after fresh demigod meat.

Annabeth was not expecting what lay before her as she and Piper entered the acropolis. Its marbled columns stretched high in the air, and it's whitewashed floors was subject to a rampage. Since the acropolis was typically a highly defended area in the ancient Greek world, the citizens of New Athens opted to have it's self-defense classes there. A mixture of symbols and training weapons littered the various racks and shelves scattered around. The Greek phalanxes were alert, standing guard at the various turrets, windows, and just about every opening possible. Again, overkill! Basically, Annabeth thought they were just there to show off sometimes. A huge crowd of demigods and legacies in battle armor was surrounding a boy Annabeth recognized as a son of Eros in the middle of the acropolis. What was his name again? Na- something.

The odd thing though, was this demigod was motionless, staring with an unblinking gaze at the sky. The really odd thing was he was shaking, like a coma patient doing the conga. Annabeth recognized her fiance and several daughters of Apollo surrounding the lone son of Eros, turned into a mentally deranged Mexican siesta. The children of Apollo quickly rushed the demigod out of the acropolis, as a uneasy crowd watched on. Instantly, Annabeth's mind turned to every possible explanation of what could be occurring here. Poison? Knife? Arson? It was practically impossible to sneak something like that in an area as well guarded as, well, here. Annabeth had a feeling she was going to need to brush up on her CSI and Castle. Sure, assault cases weren't her forte, but hey, with practice comes experience! That, and the credit hours she was sure she would be earning.

"Percy! What the Hades is going on?" shouted Annabeth. "I don't know Annabeth, one second he was doing sword exercises with several kids from Nike! The next, he drops dead and starts shaking around like a demented Mexican!" Even Annabeth had to smirk, Percy always did add some humor to the worst of situations. "Alright! Class dismissed! Everyone go home!" bellowed Percy. With a grumble, the crowd dispersed from the training grounds. A look of fear passed a lot of them, and Annabeth could feel the sentiment. She swore she would wring the neck of whoever the living Mother Rhea was doing this. But then again, the children of love were really annoying, but probably not the best thing to say right now to a flopping demigod that Annabeth didn't even know. Annabeth walked up to Percy and wrapped her arms around his taunt, lean frame.

"Urgh, what now Seaweed Brain?" grumbled Annabeth. Percy frowned, then a smile appeared on his face. "Well, we could see Mom!" smirked Percy. "Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth playfully slapped Percy's arm, but not without a smirk as well. "Owww, that hurt!" whined Percy, unleashing his baby-seal eyes. "We saw her yesterday, and the Monday before that," growled Annabeth. "There's no time like the present!" said Percy, pumping his fist. Annabeth stared in his sea-green, puppy eyes. Three years of being together, and the guy was still oblivious! Her will weakened, and she smashed her lips onto Percy's with no warning. Surprised, he deepened the kiss, gripping her hair with his hands. Annabeth felt bliss, she could do this for hours! What Annabeth didn't notice was the shadows slowly crawling toward them though...

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><p><strong>Hope you liked! Stay tuned for another chapter! Expect fairly constant updates, due to the good amount of time I have on my hands. <strong>

**Remember, REVIEW, AND POST! I would love to hear you all!**


	2. II: Annabeth

***Cackle, thank you guys for the positive reviews so far! I've been pleased with the results coming from my first story! Your words touched me, and yes, I intend to follow this all the way through and beyond! I am still new at writing on fanfiction, however, so just let me know if any parts seem rusty! I really appreciate what all of you have said! And first of all, I noticed some of you have been asking about Leo! Well, just stay tuned and stick with me. You never know, just wait and see! I promise your effort will be rewarded! On more notes, the format of the story is going to follow as:**

**-4 chapter blocks before switching to each narrator.**

**-Size of each chapter will probably stand as it is, it makes the format easy for me to remember, and gives you guys reliable content each time. **

**Thanks alot guys! Your quick reviews gave me the motivation to create another chapter in the matter of a couple of hours! Enjoy!**

**Ooo, almost forgot: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Rick Riordian! Or as we know him, Uncle Rick, or as we further know him as, the biggest troll the world has know! His cliffhangers are crazy!**

**Without further ado... Here ya go!**

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><p><strong>II. Annabeth<strong>

**What Annabeth didn't expect was a second heart attack that day.** Her gaze rested upon a certain son of Hades protruding from the shadows. With a start, she jumped up, her hair no longer the tight bun it was several minutes ago, or was it hours? She couldn't really tell. She felt kind of giddy too. Was this new? Probably. Percy fumbled for his sword, Riptide, and failing miserably at that. His Seaweed-Braininess just had to make Annabeth snicker. "Gee, PDA much?" stated Nico. Annabeth noticed Nico seemed happier than he was these days. His long, black, and shaggy hair rested just shy of his shoulders, and his Stygian iron sword at his side. Also, there was a gauntlet attached to his hand, a gift from Hades after the Giant War, allowing Nico to control armies of the dead. Great, now all-powerful dead people could conga-dance at his command.

It was insanely useful to him since, well, the Scepter of Diocletian was probably a dusty ghoul in the underworld by now. Emblazoned within the middle of the gauntlet was a pure black stone, with ancient text of the dead protruding from it. As usual, Nico was dressed in nothing but black, that much hadn't changed. "Gee, no warning Nico?" grumbled Percy. Nico peeked through his covered hands, and muttered several curses in Greek. "Seventeen minutes, that was a new record guys," he stated. Annabeth blushed. PDA wasn't her strongest thing, considering loosing track of time was happening way too often. But then again, what PDA didn't lose track of time? You didn't need an all-wise Athenian daughter to know that. Nico shuffled uncomfortably, looking like he had something to share. Urgh, secrets these days! Whatever. At least it wasn't about a potential world-ending event..., hopefully.

"So, Nico...," Percy butted in, "What brings you to interrupt my dedicated alone time with my wonderful fiance?" sarcastically, of course. Annabeth just had to roll her eyes at that. "Yeah, yeah," drawled Nico, "Chiron told me to bring you guys, it's about the guy from Eros!" Annabeth's mind wandered back to what occurred earlier in the day, that son of Eros convulsing on the floor... The mental image was enough to make her shudder. As she was about to answer, Percy butted in. "Is he alright?" "He's dead," bluntly stated Nico. "He stinks of death a mile wide and high!" Nico looked shaken up by it. Well, he shouldn't be or something, since he was the son of Hades, lord over death and master of all. The title was a bit much, but Hades insisted, especially since he was on the Olympian council, and enjoying every second of it. But that Eros dude, dead?

That was enough to make Annabeth's eyes widen, this was definitely not a common occurrence in New Athens. Well, besides the usual crashing of immortals for Olympian parties (these were LEGENDARY, by the way). She turned her gaze to Percy, and the look in his eyes were the same. Let's go. "Gee, look away for five seconds lovebirds," eye-rolled Nico. He still looked uncomfortable, probably in more ways than one. Hanging around dead people in his funeral company would be fun for sons of Hades, but apparently not then. "Grab on!" shouted Nico. Reluctantly, Annabeth grabbed on to Nico's hand, and prepared to enter the realm of shadows, which were NOT her favorite thing, by the way.

Annabeth made a mental note to bring a night-light with her every time they shadow traveled. In case people hadn't noticed, not exactly the most fun thing to do. It certainly wouldn't make Annabeth's top ten list of things she wanted to do most in the world. Well, besides the fact of literally defeating the world itself. She felt the shadows dissolve, and opened her eyes to the _agora_ of New Athens. The open plaza in the center was occupied by many figures, and the whitewashed columns surrounded the majority of the enclosed areas. Olive trees surrounded the assembly, with an open, large table in the middle. Why there had to be an open table in the middle of a plaza, Annabeth had to groan at that. She would rather people ask Chiron about that. His taste in music was FAR worse than other things he had also suggested.

Reveling in the massive architectural detail adorning the assembly, Annabeth felt proud of herself, she did design all this after all. Chiron was there, muttering to Hazel in the corner. She noticed all the seven were assembled, minus _Leo... as_ well as the various cabin heads, doing many things. Talking, arm wrestling, making out, you name it. That last one was pretty high up on her list of things to do right now though. Leo drifted through her mind momentarily, but Annabeth pushed it away, it brought out too many painful memories.

Thumping his cane, Chiron brought the meeting to attention. "As you know, demigods, Nathan, son of Eros, was found dead today," Chiron stated. The mood of most of the cabin heads dissolved into misery, like a slump in Of Mice and... "Okay, getting off topic here," thought Annabeth. She was brought out of her thoughts by the surprisingly stern voice of Nico. "The odd thing Chiron, it was almost as if he radiated fear," drawled Nico. "Not your usual underworld drop-dead kind of fear, a fear from within..."

Chiron had to frown at this, it looked as if he was thinking elaborately. "This seems familiar...," said a surprising voice. Annabeth turned to see Will Solace, son of Apollo, muttering these words. "There was a story, if I remember, about this being who could radiate fear on a scale of never before," he said. Annabeth had to think, where did that come from? "Sadly," Will butted in, "I can't remember the details, it's too hazy..!" Nico patted Will on the back with a reassuring look. Annabeth noticed him, eyeing Nico carefully. Was there something Nico wasn't telling her? She wasn't sure.

Percy wrapped his strong arms, his lips caressing Annabeth's neck. "It'll be okay," he whispered. Annabeth wanted to believe it, that they could finally get a semblance of peace, but no, the Fates just LOVED screwing with their lives. She was pretty sure "Misfit Demigods" was the number one television show on Olympus right now. Chiron interrupted, "We all forget things Will, just try to remember," he said with a smile. Will nodded sternly, lost in his thoughts. Hazel interrupted with a surprised voice, "This sounds familiar, this is from the underworld!" This caught the attention of all demigods in the _agora_, and immediately turned the attention of Frank. He wrapped an arm comfortably around Hazel, motioning her to continue.

"I remember seeing a malevolent being, when I was well, dead," Hazel gulped. "He, or she seemed to radiate fear! As to what it was doing, I don't know..." Nico butted in, "But this being couldn't have come from the realm of the dead! Even Moros and the others' power cannot surpass that kind of level!" "Under the underworld then," suggested Hazel. This shut up everyone in the room. Annabeth instantly knew what she was talking about... No, it can't be! Fear started radiating through her, and she noticed Percy going pale. But no, it couldn't be.. something bigger had to be at play here. This wasn't the work of Tartarus, she knew that much.

Annabeth really hated feeling amnesic at times. Information she needed was SO annoyingly out of her reach, just when she needed it most. She could have sworn there was a figure down there that could radiate the kind of fear they were looking for... But as usual she couldn't remember. Not like she would want to, anyway. She slipped back into consciousness, and into the worried face of surrounded demigods. "Another flashback?" questioned a worried Piper. Annabeth could do nothing but nod. She knew she wouldn't be the same after Tartarus, slipping in and out of her good sanity. Her only escape was Percy, keeping her sane.

Annabeth had to laugh bitterly, she was treated to the _De La Tartarus Resort_, while the others got an Extra-Large Deluxe can of monster-whooping. She wasn't really picky, but steering clear of the Tartarus resort was high on her list. "Well, dismissed for today," said Chiron, "We'll talk more later, let Percy and Annabeth rest!" The cabin heads immediately dispersed, heading back to their cabins to share the news. Annabeth buried her face in Percy's shirt. "Can't we EVER get a break?" she groaned. "Well Wise Girl, you know how it is, we're a Wipeout Course for the gods, they just LOVE it!" Dang, Percy really needed to make her stop smiling so much!

Annabeth curled up in a bench just outside of the _agora_ with Percy, she needed a stress-reliever from her day. She just wanted ONE DAY from screaming goddesses, demanding the end of the world. But apparently, she's the puke bucket of the Olympians. "You okay Wise Girl?" questioned Percy, pulling her closer to him. Annabeth could feel the warmth radiating from his arms, and probably even warmer tonight, if things went okay. She smiled up at Percy, "You have sauce on your lips Seaweed Brain," she smirked. "Let me clean that for you!" "Or rather, I could blast him to shreds," butted in a new voice. Annabeth had to groan, lo and behold, stood Athena, goddess of Wisdom and patron of New Athens (Poseidon was NOT happy, had a fit for weeks! On the bright side, tuna is plentiful in the Pacific right now!) was standing in front of the now blushing couple.

"Mother! What did I sa-" Annabeth's shout was interrupted by the raising of her mother's hands. "Annabeth Chase, beware the broken ties of fate! The ancients stir!" and with that, she fizzed out of their visual plane. The sudden and abrupt visit startled and unnerved Annabeth for a moment. "Oh joy," groaned Annabeth, more warnings from her mother, it had been plaguing her for weeks now! "Well, what's our life without some spice?" smirked Percy. Annabeth felt obliged to shoot back with a snarky answer, if it wasn't for the explosion on Temple Street behind them.

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><p><strong>Good cliffhanger? I hope it sufficed! *Cackle Remember, POST, READ, AND REVIEW! (PRR!) I should have another chapter up tomorrow! I really do have a lot of free time on my hands xD.<strong>


	3. III: Annabeth

**Hello my little flyers! *Mahahhaha. I told you all I would have another chapter ready for you guys today :D. Our time with Annabeth is coming to a close soon, with only one more chapter left after we switch to another POV. You guys should guess in the comments what you think the next POV will be ;D. Like I said, expect my updates to be very constant, and it's working out quite nicely too! There'll be a bit of a shocker next chapter, with something revealed.. Guess what it is ;D. And no, it's not Leo.**

**Also to elaborate further, every remaining member of the seven will ALWAYS get a 4-block chapter of POV. There will be some chapters from the POV of some important people outside of the Seven, such as Nico, for example. My goal is to get at least 32 chapters for every single book in the various series continuing the Heroes of Olympus. It may probably be longer, depending on the direction each book will go, as well as the amount of narrators who get to share. Like I said, I'll always be constant and consistent here :D. The size chapters you are seeing is going to be the average chapter size for all my books. **

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus belongs to our special little guy... Rick Riordian!**

**This chapter will have a bit less of the usual humor in it, but to make up for it, there will be plenty of explosions ;D. So, without further ado... Here ya go! ;D**

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><p><strong>III. Annabeth<strong>

**Annabeth didn't expect to see a flying car hurtling toward her**. Well, it seemed to be more of an automaton, but still. She barely had time to gape before Percy shoved her away. The dozens of demigods milling around all ducked for cover just as the temple of Eris exploded. Various pieces of debris showered down on the previously clean-cut street, raining like cats and dogs. That actually did occur last summer, don't ask. It was definitely one of Annabeth's weirder summers. She watched in horror as the explosion ripped through the _Tranquilion of Poseidon_. She worked hard on that! Besides her, Percy shouted,"Hey! that was my dad's party place!" Annabeth had to admit that Poseidon threw some pretty wild parties in there, now that he was allowed to visit. It had taken six months of annoying the Hades out of Zeus, but it was so worth it!

"Percy! Annabeth!" shouted Jason, running toward them. "What in the name of Zeus is-," thunder rumbled. "SHUT UP DAD, I don't have time for this!" bellowed Jason. His orange and purple cloak, signifying his combined position as a _pontifex maximus_, was tattered and frayed. The thunder stopped, signifying that Zeus was probably letting this go, after all, this was pretty much an reenactment of doomsday. Annabeth peeled herself off the sidewalk, and chased after the already retreating figure of Jason.

"Jason, wait up!" she shouted. Panting, she and Jason ran through the burning street of temples dedicated to the dead. Shattered obsidian and black glass littered the ground, and Annabeth was thankful she didn't run barefoot today. "F-for some r-r-reason," Jason panted, "Only the temples associated with the gods of the underworld are blowing up like a tactical nuke!" Right then, an explosion ripped across one of the libraries on the block. Books everywhere blew off their awnings. Annabeth growled, whoever did this was going to PAY! The firefighter brigade of New Athens streaked past Annabeth and Jason, and started attempting to contain the fires. Seriously, building a city on the scale of New Athens, they would need a fire brigade!

A tremor rumbled across Temple Street, and stopped. In all, it really felt to Annabeth that she was dunked with a swirly from the toilet, then wringed through a _caramel latte_, which she LOVED, by the way. The chaos reminded Annabeth of the Fourth of July fireworks eight years ago, minus the Stolls blowing up half the Big House. On the bright side, their shrieking every time someone picked a grape from their leaves was music to Annabeth's ears. Too bad Annabeth didn't notice the column falling in their direction though.

Annabeth really thought she was dead. But then again, being dead doesn't warrant the bright blue glow standing in front of them. With a gape, Annabeth and Jason stood in front of the furious figure of Poseidon, smashing the column to bits. "ANNABETH," Poseidon bellowed, "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY PARTY TIME?!" "L-lord Poseidon, we're under attack, I think!" stated Annabeth. "Well girlie, I can see that much!" "Behind you!" Annabeth ducked as a sea-green beam from Poseidon's trident smashed through yet another falling column. Annabeth had to jerk Jason's wide-eyed figure away as Poseidon fended off further collapses. "FIND PERCY!" Poseidon bellowed, "TELL HIM-," his voice was cut off by further rumbles.

The only other thing Annabeth heard from Poseidon would be something she would have to share later, not now... "This way Jason! Cut across the _Plazebo Graecan_!" exclaimed Annabeth. With a flick of his wrist, Jason grabbed Annabeth, and summoned the winds. They shot off toward the source of the explosion, toward the Plaza of the Dead. Annabeth felt as if she was in a wind tunnel, if a wind tunnel had bugs squashing in her teeth. She made a mental note to brush her teeth THOROUGHLY tonight. Assuming they lived, that is.

Jason firmly planted them in front of the temple of Hades, adorning the center of the plaza. Oddly enough, it was the only untouched building in the area. Annabeth noticed Percy, Nico, Piper, and Hazel, gathered around the entrance foyer of the temple of Hades, talking in hushed whispers. Where Frank was, Annabeth didn't know. He was probably-, the trumpet of a steamrolling elephant confirmed Annabeth's thoughts on what he was doing. Shrugging it off, she and Jason walked nearer to the assembled group. The temple of Hades always managed to creep out Annabeth, it was solidly black, with eternal flames adorning the walls, and skeletons of the dead protruding from the ground. It was almost as if they were begging to escape, crying out for the living.

As Annabeth entered the group, several mutters were heard. "-rworld in revolt, -epy -ight com-," muttered Nico. "What about the ghouls?" butted in Hazel. Piper was the first to notice Annabeth and Jason approaching. "Guys!" she cried, "Thank the gods, you're fine!" Piper's previously pink shirt was now covered in soot and ashes, along with her jeans being smeared with black gunk. Percy immediately ran to her hugging her tightly. "Sea-we-ed Br-ain, you're cho-king me," Annabeth managed to gasp. Percy released her, and looked in her gray eyes with concern. He immediately bombarded her with questions. "Are you hurt? Brain damage? Limbs?" he fretted. Annabeth had to chuckle, Percy's concern over her well-being was impressive.

"I'm fine Seaweed Brain," groaned Annabeth. "What happened Annabeth?" questioned a worried Hazel. "Well, besides a nice cheery visit from my mother and future father-in-law, everything's just dandy," she muttered. Nico and Hazel exchanged surprised looks. "Two gods visiting in one day? That's not good..," stated Nico. "Well, maybe they wanted to discuss flower arrangement?" cheerily suggested Piper. That elected a smirk from everyone in the group. "I highly think two all-powerful Olympians wouldn't visit to discuss flower arrangement," sarcastically stated Jason. "Usually, it's about the apocalyptic ending of the world!" Muttering agreements coursed throughout the entire group. It was kinda like senior bingo night, except for the fact they were standing on the skeletons of dead people. Huh, maybe they played bingo?

"Wait, dad visited?" elicited a surprised Percy. "Well yeah, after the fact he heroically saved us from a falling column of death," said Annabeth, sarcastically of course. "Did he say anything?" said Piper. "Well, you know, the usual, get Percy, how was your day? I'm going back to Olympus, hooray!" And with that, the group fell silent. "Well," cheerfully said Hazel, "I guess we got summer cleaning to do!" Everyone groaned, and Annabeth really did NOT look forward to all the cleanup they were obviously going to be doing. Well, that probably ruined her plans for tonight.

As Annabeth walked out of the temple of Hades, she noticed much of the fires were now contained, and the tremors had stopped. Cleanup harpies were sweeping away all the rubble... And was one eating a brick? Annabeth shuddered, she really didn't want to think much about what harpies ate. Well, besides the usual occasional demigod appetizer. Percy took her hand, and they strolled down Temple Street, heading to Camp Half-Blood for some sane peace of mind. Annabeth was hoping to see Rachel though, to try and pry some more advice from her. Even though she and Apollo sadly didn't have the gift of prophecy anymore, Rachel could still offer glimpses into the past. Anything could help, Annabeth knew that. Being a daughter of Athena, she knew every little piece of wisdom was valuable. Even though some of these certain 'pieces' could probably be very stupid.

Annabeth casually turned her head as they walked down the Valley of Odysseus , taking in the sights. The smell of olive trees and various freshwater fountains dotted the landscape. Casual clusters of small forests provided ample shade, and various pavilions for eating were nicely shaded as well. Annabeth loved the Valley of Odysseus, it was the medium between New Athens and Camp Half-Blood. Besides him being her mother's favorite hero, it was an inspiration for Annabeth, she believed she and Percy could have a peaceful life someday, just like the ending of Odysseus' story. She noticed Percy staring at her, with a goofy grin on his face. Annabeth just had to crack up, and they both fell on the grass laughing.

Annabeth thought she could lay here for days. Camp could wait a couple more minutes... All she needed now was a good book, curled up next to Percy. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, and a pair of black shorts, defining his large muscles. She loved watching Percy sleep, he was cute when he drooled. Don't tell him that! "So, Percy," stated Annabeth, "Enjoying the view?" Percy smirked, and grabbed Annabeth in a big, womping hug. "Baby, what view?" he questioned. It was cute when he did that, really. With a shrug, Annabeth curled up in his arms, with just a little more time...

What Annabeth didn't expect next was waking up at sundown, STILL in the spot she and Percy were in earlier. A horror hit Annabeth, they were going to be late for dinner, Percy's worst nightmare. "Food..., Seaweed Brain...," she whispered in his ear. Percy's eyes shot open, and he grabbed Annabeth's hand and shot down the valley, paving the way to the dining pavilion. Annabeth shrieked with enjoyment, happily zooming along with him. What Annabeth didn't notice next was the arrow that happened to be hurtling toward her.

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><p><strong>You like? Remember, (PRR!) Post, read, and review! Remember to criticize and give suggestions as well! Still new here, so let me know if I'm doing anything wrong ;D. BTW, a shoutout to all my reviewers so far, thanks! Keep em coming!<strong>


	4. IV: Annabeth

**Hello all! Thanks for the wonderful reviews again! I bet some of you are wanting to know more about myself! Well, my name is Joshua Smithley, and I am 16 years old, and currently living in Indiana. Most of the time, I'm just an ordinary guy who likes computers and airplanes! I've loved planes all my life, and don't ever plan on stopping that! :D. That's why I call you all my little flyers, you are my army of flying followers! MAHAHAHHA! Anyway, I really do hope you all enjoy this chapter's it's a little bit darker, and I took a bit of extra time planning it. I'll usually be able to update every day or every other day! If I update in every other day, it's usually when I plan out the next block of chapter, it takes me a day to kind of plan the general direction of how a block of chapters is going to go.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus belongs to the dastardly pirate, Rick Riordian! We gotta love Uncle Rick here, Mark of Athena and House of Hades was brilliant, but Blood of Olympus was poor... Rick could have done much better, All he had to do was give us a proper sendoff, instead of rushing to do Magnus Chase, which hasn't even started yet... NO rush Uncle Rick -.-**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Annabeth's final chapter is here! Take a guess on who is next! ;D. Without further ado, I give you...**

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><p><strong>IV. Annabeth<strong>

**Annabeth really hated being dead**. She was pretty sure she was, with the figure of Thanatos standing before her. His rich, teakwood skin adorned his facial  
>features, and his wings were as black as death itself. Or was death supposed to be red? Annabeth couldn't tell, and she really didn't care. Thanatos was wearing simple denim jeans, and a long, robed cloak covered his torso. His soulless eyes stared right through Annabeth, and she fought hard not to cry. There was still so much that she had to live for! And Percy... Annabeth broke down just then, realizing that she would probably never see him again. Well, depending on where she went in the underworld, but still. It just wasn't fair, her life was being mocked at.<p>

"Relax, daughter of Athena," said Thanatos in a rich, baritone voice, "It is not yet your time." "B-but didn't that arrow hit me?" stammered Annabeth. Thanatos sighed, "Why must I always explain things to ignorant mortals?" You're not technically dead, I just pulled you in a dream-like state while they clean up that arrow wound," he groaned. "Would you like to be dead?" "N-no sir," nervously stated Annabeth. She learned it really wasn't best questioning all-powerful immortals unless you wanted to become a demigod milkshake. Annabeth was sure that monsters' favorite flavor was the children of Athena. Olives and literacy probably appealed to them more, unless they liked seafood better, which was probably the case.

"Why am I here then?" questioned Annabeth, narrowing her eyes. If this was going to turn out to be another godly kidnapping, Annabeth swore she would march up  
>to Olympus and strangle the living Hades out of Hera. Thanatos glared at Annabeth, his eyes gazing across her mind. "I know what you know, Annabeth Chase," stated Thanatos, "That explosion was no coincidence." "Gee, obvious much?" declared Annabeth. Thanatos stared at her hardly, "Ancient things are stirring, things even Hades does not know of, this goes far further than Tartarus himself!"<p>

"Can't you contain it?" stated Annabeth. "If I could, I would, but I fear my hold over even death itself is weakening, this goes far back further than Alaska!" This made Annabeth's eyes widen, not many beings could hold even death at bay itself. "Wha-," Annabeth's voice was interrupted by the voice of Thanatos. "Our time ends Annabeth Chase, I believe your friends are looking for you," he said monotonously. Annabeth was about to speak, when her vision went dizzy, and her mind swirled back to the land of the living, into the face of her concerned friends.

"Annabeth!" Percy was the first to shout as she stirred into consciousness. Annabeth gazed around into the faces of her concerned friends, and more importantly,  
>into the panicking face of Thalia Grace. "Annie!" she shouted. "I told you never to call me that!" Annabeth grumbled as she arose up from her bunk in the infirmary. She groaned as pain shot through her right shoulder. With a cry, Percy and Thalia rushed forward. "Back off!" exclaimed a new voice, as Jessica, daughter of Apollo, rushed forward. "You need to lie down, you've been unconscious for five hours!" Annabeth gaped, she was out for that long? Normally it would be spent in bed with Percy, but five hours? "Annabeth, I'm so sorry!" bawled Thalia.<p>

"What happened?" Annabeth stated, with a confused look on her face. That didn't happen often, unless she really couldn't figure something out. "Well, we were running, and Thals here," butted in Percy, "Happened to think you were a running target, so she took a shot!" Percy glared at Thalia with a peeved look on his face. "Uh, well, on the bright side," Thalia chuckled weakly, "Percy shoved you out far enough!" Annabeth took in Thalia's stature, she was the same as they saw her last summer, with her immortal blessing of Artemis giving her a moonlit glow. Her silver tiara and punk-rock style, along with a Green-Day shirt, adorned most of her features.

"Annabeth!" shot Piper as she bolted through the door, with Jason, Frank, and Hazel in tow. They were instinctivly told by Jessica, once more, to back off.  
>They got as close as they could, and started fawning over Annabeth. Annabeth was grateful for good friends, but too much was too much. "Guys, I'm fine!" drawled<br>Annabeth. Instinctively, they gave her some space. "What happened Annabeth?" said Frank. "Well, besides a visit from Thanatos warning of our usual doom, just peachy!" she said. "With my visit from Apollo," Rachel butted in from the corner, "That makes four gods in a day..." "Something's off all right!" While Rachel didn't elaborate anything about Apollo's visit, Annabeth was happy to see her, considering they were really good friends these days. They did shopping, monster-killing, and fending off the usual apocalyptic ending of the world together.

Slapping her hair-brush on her side, which was used to bean Kronos in the eye, sometimes Annabeth thought Rachel would certainly make a convincing daughter of Apollo, with her accurate aiming as well as using to speak previously doomsday-casting prophecies. They weren't as bad as Apollo's haikus though, Annabeth had to shudder at that. "My visit from Apollo stated the same, something's rising that the gods cannot prevent easily!" Rachel exclaimed. A downcast shadow befell the group, and they were plunged into deep thought. Annabeth noticed an owl outside. Wait, was it staring at Percy? Annabeth sighed, her mother was SUCH a snoop sometimes!

"So Thals, what brings you here?" stated Annabeth. "Lady Artemis sent us here, she's been recalled to Olympus," droned Thalia. Everyone exchanged worried  
>looks, the recallment of the Olympians couldn't be good. "I'll alert the camp!" shouted Frank. He twisted, and then morphed into a hummingbird, buzzing out of the door into the night. Annabeth took in her surroundings, the infirmary had been greatly expanded, with at least a hundred beds stacked along a hallway. Medical cabinets hung along the walls, and every bedsheet had the symbol of Apollo emblazoned in the center, a golden sun.<p>

"Can you get up now Annabeth?" questioned Hazel, who was standing by the door, instinctively watching the outdoors. "I-I can try," muttered Annabeth. She struggled to rise, and started to fall forward on the ground, before Percy caught her, propping her on his arm. "Just take it easy Annabeth," stated a worried Percy. Annabeth motioned to sit down, and so did the group. She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, hearing the chatter of the people around her. All Annabeth wanted sometimes was just a little bit of peace, but no, crazy immortals just had to ruin whatever she wanted.

"Your gift is still blocked Rachel?" asked Piper. Annabeth opened her eyes, and listened on. "It feels weird, as if the spirit of Delphi is muted in me, yet I  
>can still see some small glimpses," muttered Rachel. "Well, a really helpful hint would be useful about now," suggested Jason, pulling Piper onto his lap. Rachel<br>frowned, "I can't make any promises, but I'll try my best!" She stared intently at the door, probably working out the day's events in her mind. Percy cradled  
>Annabeth's hand in his own, and they sat in comfortable silence.<p>

Annabeth knew they would probably have to go back home soon; she was just grateful to get some rest. Everyone seemed tired too, due to the chaotic events taking place today. Annabeth had the most intense experience she's had in years, since the Giant War. She was NOT looking forward to this whole mess. You could probably say everyone was feeling like mindless zombies right now, but don't tell Hazel. The poor girl had suffered enough in the underworld. Being dead certainly couldn't have been much fun, Annabeth knew that. Hazel was dressed down in just some simple jeans and a purple t-shirt, with her cavalry sword at her side.

The comfortable silence was interrupted by Rachel, muttering to herself. The group leaned forward, and Annabeth expectantly listened. "Uh guys," Rachel said,  
>"I don't think-," her voice was immediately interrupted by dead silence. She convulsed, and stood straight up, her eyes growing an luminous serpent green. Heavy, thick, green mist protruded from her mouth, and everyone scrambled back. For the very first time in years, Annabeth heard the voice of the oracle speak:<p>

_Darkness and despair in endless night_  
><em>Immortals and mortals' deepest plight<em>  
><em>Royal Prison, Fate and gain<em>  
><em>Through the fines of boundless pain<em>  
><em>Heart and soul, shall nightfall banish<em>  
><em>Daughter's light shall conquer and vanish<em>

With that, Rachel collapsed, and Jason rushed forward to catch her. "_Well, schist_!" Annabeth thought. Everyone stared at Rachel with a gaping mouths, as she drifted  
>back into consciousness. "Uh," she said weakly, "I think I just said the next great prophecy!"<p>

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><p><strong>You like? Events are starting to move now! *CACKLE* MAHAHAHHAHA! Anyway, remember to PRR! (Post, read and review!) Please guys, I need some reviews, they help me out a bunch!<strong>


	5. V: Leo

**First READ THIS: Guys, I'm just asking for some reviews here, I want to know how you all feel. It motivates me to continue writing, and makes my day! I am really trying to dedicate myself to this fandom, and I would appreciate the support I can get from you guys. **

**SECOND: I would like to state to my first guest reviewer, that while I appreciate your opinion, I think it's biased. You need to understand, the story just began. The first block of chapters merely started the book events rolling on the Greek Side. Please understand, I have a lot planned out, and I specifically said in one of my past statements that I would be including important characters, please remember that. ALL eventual questions will be answered, especially about Percy/Annabeth and New Rome. All that is planned out by me, so just BE PATIENT. This is still a puzzle, and the pieces will be put together eventually. I always have future plans for the series's, as well as very clever plans, so pay close attention. In fact, at the time of your review, I already had this chapter planned out, and it answers all of your suggestions. I hope you're happy ;D, and just remember more detail about this will come eventually. **

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to our special guy, Rick Riordian!**

**I spent some hard work on this chapter! I hope you guys like! At long last, what you guys have been waiting for, without further ado... Captain McShizzle himself!**

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><p><strong>V. Leo<strong>

**Even before plummeting to his death**, Leo was having a really bad day. The lovely evening sun was shining, and the quietness of the peaceful valleys of  
>California was interrupted by screaming. "LEO!" screamed Calypso, "Get us out of here you dunderhead!" Leo was about to hit back with a snarky remark, however, Festus ever so casually fell between the couple, playing a Beach Boys tune while also falling to his death. "Not to worry <em>chica<em>! Uncle Leo is in the house!" Leo said with a grin. Calypso rolled her eyes, "Then hurry up you idiot!" She flailed her arms around, finding nothing but empty air. Leo had to admit, Calypso was HOT, especially the way her blue dress was-, "NO! Bad Leo!" he mentally scolded himself. It certainly didn't help that his head was lighting on and off on fire, like the Human Torch.

Today was just terrible for Leo, first, a flock of harpies just had to pluck breakfast out of his and Calypso's hands. Then, while eating lunch on Festus, some venti attacked. Now, it was sunset, and this REALLY large eagle ever so casually ripped off Festus' right wing, accounting for the heavy smoke trailing from him. Leo had to sigh, just because he was the awesomest demigod in the world didn't mean he had to continue being a trash basket for all-powerful immortals. And yes, Leo knew awesomest wasn't a word, Annabeth would SO lecture him on that! The gods still needed their awesome Captain McShizzle!

"Hurry up Leo!" shrieked Calypso. Leo broke out of his thoughts, and started assembling a parachute out of the various bits and pieces he always had carrying with him. His hands worked furiously to fashion something to keep him and Calypso afloat. "M-m, that goes there, and there, gah, not another AK-47!" thought Leo. The rolling hills of California, one of their stops on Uncle Leo's exclusive world tour got closer and closer. "Hang on Sunshine!" bellowed Leo. Calypso tried to punch him as well as she could while falling three-thousand feet in the air. Leo saw Festus activate his emergency boosters to glide down to the ground, like a graceful ballerina. Could dragons be ballerinas? Leo shrugged.

He secured himself to his nicely-done homemade parachute and pulled Calypso as tight to him as he could, ignoring her shrieks. Leo could smell the cinnamon on her hair, as it always smelled every day. With Calypso safely secured, Leo pulled the cable, releasing the chute. It launched successfully, cushioning them in the air, floating down gently to the ground. Two-thousand feet, one-thousand five-hundred, it got closer. Leo thought, "Ha! Take that overgrown idiots!" Leo thought they might actually survive this, thanks to the awesomeness that is Leo! That's when the tether snapped, though.

Leo didn't expect waking up in the infirmary of Camp Jupiter. He was pretty sure he was there, considering he could see the Forum of New Rome out of his window. Leo remembered half the Forum was blown up during his last visit. He just had to shudder. Sure, he had been possessed by bloodthirsty eidolons, but STILL, it wasn't his fault! The infirmary was mainly dressed in purple bedsheets, with various medical instruments scattered on a couple tables. "Seriously, you didn't need surgery to find out how I'm so awesome...," Leo thought. Leo looked around, and immediately panicked. Calypso wasn't in any of the surrounding beds. Leo swore, if the Romans picked off his girlfriend, he would 'redecorate' the Forum. Leo wiggled his eyes, imagining the things he could do with some spray paint. He could imagine it now, a nice billboard with "All Da Ladies Luv Leo!"

Jarring out of his thoughts, Leo was suddenly slapped across the face. He jerked around, clustering his throbbing right cheek, and came face to face with a VERY angry Reyna. "LEO VALDEZ, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" screamed Reyna, her purple praetor's cape billowing behind her. Her obsidian eyes glittered with surprise, pain, and tears. "Uh-well-," stuttered Leo, before being slapped by Reyna yet again. "OWWWW!" what was that for?! Leo exclaimed. "FOR BEING DEAD, YOU BLATHERING, NO GOOD-," yelled Reyna, before breaking down. Leo was shocked, the great Reyna, praetor of New Rome, crying like a newborn baby. "You little idiot! You can't just die on us and come back! Where were you?!"

"Relax chica, I was so awesome that Hades just decided to let me go!" smirked Leo. All he got was yet another slap by Reyna. "Seriously Leo," she said, recomposing herself, "Where in the name of Pluto's Pauldrons did you go?" Well, the usual chiz, saving a damsel in distress, falling from the sky, lighting on fire, just my average day," stated Leo. Reyna groaned, "Of course Valdez, NOW GET UP!" "Gee, no need to be pushy, every lady will always have time for Leo!" he smiled, standing up and puffing his chest. Leo didn't expect what came next from Reyna, a bone-crushing hug that just about knocked the breath out of him, which was saying a lot, considering he was dead for a couple of seconds. "Uh, Reyna, you all right?" questioned Leo. "Are you coming down with a fever of Leo-Is-Awesomeness?" Reyna usually didn't act like this, choosing to be the stoic leader she wished to be.

Again, Leo was received with a punch to the stomach, and lay groaning on the ground. "Get up Fire-Boy!" commanded Reyna, pulling him up from the ground, and shoving him out of the door. The two guards standing in front of the door gaped at Leo. "P-praetor, isn't that-" stammered the first guard, dressed in imperial gold battle armor and a purple plume adorning his helmet. "You will speak nothing of this!" boomed Reyna, her solid expression and demeanor returning. "Yes praetor!" both guards said in perfect unison. Reyna turned to Leo. "Get over here Valdez, we have much to discuss," she said.

The last time Leo saw the Forum of New Rome, it was smoking, and well, on fire. It looked pretty good, with it's cobblestone streets and olive trees that seemed newly planted. The olive trees reminded him of Annabeth... Gods of Olympus, how were his friends taking it? Leo could probably only imagine Jason and Piper's grief over his supposed death. with "Your girlfriend is fine," stated Reyna. "She's off with Hazel somewhere, doing who knows what!" Leo's eyes widened, "Uh, isn't that a bad idea?" he questioned. His girlfriend and old love interest together, not to mention the fact Hazel thought he was dead... Reyna smirked, "You tell me, though you probably deserve it!" she said with a cackle.

Leo noticed dozens of Romans gaping at him in amazement, and some giving him the stink eye. Leo had to groan, he blew up the Forum ONE TIME, just one time! But no, he just had to be branded as an arsonist. Leo bumped right into Reyna as she stopped in front of a statue right smack in the middle of the Forum. Leo recognized the statue as him... In all his emblazoned glory, literally. He recognized it covered in imperial gold and celestial bronze, with this WICKED fire effect surrounding his whole body. The plaque at the base of the statue said:

_Leo Valdez_

_Supreme Commander of the Argo II_

_"Repair Boy, Captain McShizzle, The Human Torch"_

_Destroyer of Gaea_

Leo immediately felt guilty. The Romans made a statue for him? Sure, Leo knew he was destined to be the glory of awesome, but dedicating a statue of him in the very place he blew up? Aww, the Romans were getting sentimental! "Keep moving," muttered Reyna, "Don't make any eye contact." Walking down the _Via Principia_, Leo noticed it was pretty much the same since he last saw it, with the exception of some Greek elements. Leo saw a few omegas here and there, as well as some foods from Camp Half-Blood he recognized in the hands of some vendors. Reyna whistled for Aurum and Argentinum, and they immediately appeared flanking her sides. "Uh, nice doggies!" exclaimed Leo.

He could have sworn Aurum was giving him the stink eye too. As they reached the crossroads, Leo noticed a house off to the distance that happened to have an owl and trident weaved on the doorway. "That's Percy and Annabeth's villa," Reyna stated. "They were supposed to move here next week, we had it all ready for them. "Uh, supposed?" said Leo. "Well, Annabeth happened to be shot by an arrow two days ago by these stupid Hunters of Artemis," grumbled Reyna. Leo's eyes shot up in concern, "Is she-" "She's fine," cut off Reyna with a wave. "She'll need a few days to recuperate, but the worrying thing is another Great Prophecy has been announced," she muttered. "Hazel came back yesterday to tell us the news."

Leo expected Zeus to pop up here and then to claim that this was just another funny joke, and they could all just move on with their lives. Why did he have to be so awesome that the Olympians needed him again? He was ready to propose to Calypso, and just settle down with his life. "Screw the Fates," Leo thought. "I'm not putting up with this load of centaur poop!" "You know you can''t fight prophecies Leo," sighed Reyna. Leo knew that was true, whatever truly powerful being was out there wanted to screw up the lives of every demigod possible.

Leo noticed the Fields of Mars was still scattered with rubble, it appeared as if there were some War Games last night. Broken water cannons lay around, and he noticed a cleanup crew sweeping away the debris. Unless Leo was hallucinating, he SWORE he saw a harpy casually... Nah, that couldn't be right. What Leo gaped at though, was a blue dress peaking on the top of the nearest hill. He immediately bolted, with Reyna, and Aurum and Argentium at his heels. The dogs yapped at the body Leo saw laying on the ground. With a sobbing shriek, Leo saw the body laying there, the bloody body of Calypso.

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><p><strong>I suppose you all are accusing me of being REALLY evil right now... *Cackle* I hope you guys liked! PRR! Post, Read, and Review!<strong>


	6. VI: Leo

**Hey everyone! *Cackle* First off, thank you SO much for the helpful reviews! Keep them coming! I really appreciate what people are saying, and I will take all your suggestions in mind. With that in mind:**

**I will be updating every 2-3 days, to allow better responses to my story, and to allow it to feel not as rushed. Plus it forces people to wait! *Cackle***

**Due to the extra time, I will be creating longer chapters, along with tie-in content to further satisfy you guys. **

**Anyway, thanks for all your words! I worked VERY hard on this chapter, it's the largest chapter so far, and I plan revising the other chapters at one point to match the length of this one. Don't worry, you won't have to necessarily reread them, I will be only adding sensory detail to enhance and further lengthen the chapters.**

**This chapter of Leo will be interesting, and the quest/directive of this book is FINALLY reached! You all will discover a lot of back-story as to what happened last summer between the Giant War and now. I suggest you all pay CLOSE ATTENTION to this chapter, as it ties back to some of the Annabeth chapters. **

**REMEMBER TO REVIEW!**

**Good luck! Without further ado, I give you...**

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><p><strong>VI. Leo<strong>

**Leo didn't expect to see Calypso's ghost**. Well, he thought he did, but he was pretty sure ghosts couldn't laugh at him. Around him, Reyna and Calypso broke into fits of laughter and fell on the ground. "HA-H-HAHH!" Calypso managed to choke out. "D-did you see the look on his face?" cackled Reyna. "W-Wha?" stuttered out Leo, obviously confused, not to mention scarred from his horrible experience moments earlier. He swore the crimson blood dripping from Calypso was as vividly real as a tray of cheesy enchiladas, which he LOVED by the way. He was considering starting an enchilada club with Grover. The so-called dead Calypso disappeared in a puff of smoke. "H-Hee!" a new voice popped in. With wide eyes, Leo recognized Hazel coming over the crust of the hill. Hazel tackled him in a bone-crushing hug, sobbing quietly in his shoulder. "Uh, there there," said Leo, carefully patting Hazel's shoulder. "Calypso told me everything," sobbed Hazel, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Leo felt inclined to agree, why? Well, he was kinda busy these days, touring the world with Calypso. They visited the Acropolis in Athens for the first proper time, without an army of giants breathing down their necks like creepy stalkers. Besides the average monster attacks, it was going pretty normal for a demigod, fire-breathing dragon, and an all-powerful mortal Titan. Hazel gingerly pulled Leo up, staring at him with tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Hey, look, I'm fine, we're fine!" stated Leo. "After all, you can't defeat the epitome of awesomeness!" That had to make Hazel giggle. Leo noticed a centurion badge pinned to her gray t-shirt. Did she get promoted? "But, what happened to Calypso?" stammered Leo. "Simple Mist, smirked Hazel, "Tricked you into thinking she was dead, though you really do deserve that, making us all think you were dead!"

"So," interrupted Reyna, "The senate has conveyed a meeting to hear about this next great prophecy, are you coming?" Before Leo could butt in, Calypso said, "Of course Rey!" while dragging Leo along. "Urgh," Leo thought, "My bad-boy McShizzleness is attracting too many fangirls!" That was pretty evidenced, as three girls happened to flank him, while they walked out of the Fields of Mars. Leo gazed at Calypso's hand entwined in his own, and it gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling. They reentered the city of New Rome, heading toward the Senate Building. Leo certainly hadn't been one to notice fine architectural detail, but the city was chock full of them. Elaborately detailed columns supported the roof of many new buildings, with curves Leo saw as familiar. Statues and gilded fountains adorned the edges of the various plazas scattered around. "Annabeth gave us a hand with this," stated Reyna, "She single-handedly designed half the _Via Appia_, running across the entire territory of New Rome."

Leo had to whistle at that, designing a walkway across the entire Roman territory was no easy feat. The small group halted, as Reyna stopped in front of the Statue of Terminus. "Well, well, there's our little survivor!" boomed Terminus, "Now, fork over your weapons!" "Hey, there's no weapon but the blinding light that is Leo!" Leo exclaimed. Terminus sighed, "JULIA!" Give him the pat-down!" A little girl about six years old, with glasses and grown in teeth, popped in from behind Terminus. W-wha, Hey!" exclaimed Leo as Julia picked him up by the foot. Around him, Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso's eyes widened. "B-but how?" stammered Hazel as she saw a little six year old girl shake Leo down. "Hey! Watch that! Be careful with-, OW!" Leo managed to stutter out as tools began falling out of his belt. A five-pound hammer, jackhammer, goggles, blowtorch, chainsaw, crowbar, and other various items fell out of Leo's person. The girls all bounced their heads as they saw this massive amount of items seemingly appear out of Leo.

"There!" exclaimed Terminus as Julia plopped Leo down. Leo oddly felt as if he was violated of his manhood, only Calypso got to do that! "Your credentials seem to be in order," muttered Terminus to the girls, "Please proceed!" "Really? Credentials?" muttered Leo. "Would you like another pat down?" smirked Terminus. "On second thought, I'm good!" exclaimed Leo, as he ran to catch up with the girls now entering the city. Leo noticed a steady stream of senators, all in purple togas, now entering the Senate House of New Rome. The roof was beautifully redone, thanks to that small accident with the _ballistae_ on the Argo II. "Again, stupid eidolons!" thought Leo. He grabbed Calypso's hand as they walked inside the Senate House, again ignoring the looks the Romans were giving him. Reyna pointed to several chairs clustered near the podium, where they would be sitting. Leo gulped, sitting in front of hundreds of people who thought he was dead? Not exactly a good idea.

Paying deep attention to his thoughts, Leo ran straight into an unassuming Frank, collapsing on the ground. Frank turned, and gaped with wide eyes. "L-Leo?" he stuttered. At that moment, Frank chose to pass out on the floor. "Oh come on," groaned Reyna, facepalming. "Frank!" exclaimed Hazel, rushing to his side. Leo just had to groan, when was his awesomeness going to stop making people pass out? A Roman medic teamed shoved through the gathering senators, and picked up Frank, rushing him out of the Senate House. "Keep going," muttered Calypso, lightly shoving him along the growing crowd. Leo sat on the podium, with Reyna on his right, and Calypso on his left. He noticed Octavian wasn't around, and asked Reyna about that. "Well, besides launching himself off a catapult and exploding in a fiery inferno, he's pretty okay!" smirked Reyna. "Huh! So THAT'S why I heard that fireball screaming like a little girl...," vaguely thought Leo.

As they waited for the others to finish assembling, Leo gazed at Calypso, apparently laughing at something with Reyna. His mind flashed back to last summer, when she appealed to the Olympians to ask for her immortality to be removed. "So, Calypso, Daughter of Atlas," boomed Zeus, "You wish to be mortal?!" "Shame," muttered Hera from a corner. As Calypso gazed firmly on Zeus, Leo took a look around the throne room of the Olympians. Around fifteen individuals were present. Leo noticed Hades, Hestia, and Hecate all lounging on thrones of their own. Were they now Olympians? He gazed the far right corner of the room, with a figure, wait, was that Apollo in the corner? He was wearing a dunce hat, sitting on a stool crying his eyes out silently. "How do gods even cry?" thought Leo. He was interrupted by the rebuttal of Zeus, "-ocess would be painful at least, plus, what's in it for me?" "Well you won't have to put up with her for yet another eon," muttered Poseidon, who Leo recognized as the father of Percy.

He noticed Poseidon giving them a wink, indicating his support for the couple. "But it should be impossible! You can't just revoke immortality from a person!" exclaimed Artemis. "On the contrary, dear daughter, Calypso's immortality is merely-, wait, Hermes, what are you doing?" questioned Zeus. Leo noticed Hermes wrapping up a package at the base of his throne, sealing it tightly with Duct-O'-Godly-Tape. "Well, dear father," drawled Hermes, "You're forcing me to work overtime with this stupid thing! I'm trying to deliver this package of cats and dogs to Camp Half-Blood, one of mine ordered it!" Zeus sighed, "Very well, carry on!" "Anyway, as I was saying, Calypso's immortality is tied directly to the island due to her being there for so long, if we removed Ogygia from existence, she should carry on being nothing but a mortal." "Do it!" shouted Calypso. Zeus frowned, "You would do well to be lenient, Titaness!" "Let's vote, who wishes to revoke Calypso of her immortality?" Most hands raised up in the throne room, with the exception of Demeter, Hera, and Dionysus as usual, he was such a grouch!

"Very well, the vote stands!" boomed Zeus, "Calypso, are you prepared?" "I am, Lord Zeus," stated Calypso, looking at Leo with love in her eyes. Leo was tempted to reach forward, but didn't want to risk angering the all-powerful immortals in the room. "PREPARE!" bellowed Zeus. At once, all fifteen immortals rose from their thrones, including Apollo from his little foot-stool, and starting chanting in an ancient language that even Leo hadn't heard of before. A golden glow surrounded Calypso, sealing the oath of bonds onto herself. Calypso screamed in pain, and Leo rushed forward to reach her. "Screw this," Leo thought, "No one's touching Sunshine!" He cradled Calypso in his arms, as the golden glow faded. "Expect her in some pain," gruffly stated Hephaestus. Leo looked up at his father with fear in his eyes, would she survive? "She'll be perfectly fine Leo," said Hephaestus. Leo sighed, at least she would be okay, right?

That's when Calypso started coughing up the blood of immortals, which, oddly enough, showed small specks of red in them. He watched in horror as the red grew, until she was coughing up pure red blood. "It is done," stated Zeus, "Ogygia is destroyed!" By this time, Calypso had passed out like a drunkard at a high-school party. "It'll be okay _chica_," muttered Leo as he rocked her back and forth, "We'll be okay soon!" "You best take care of her, son of Hephaestus," stated Artemis as the council dismissed, it's members teleporting out to their respective domains. "She would make a fine Hunter, no doubt, but her loyalties apparently lie with you." Leo had to snort, Calypso a hunter? Sure, he would far rather die again than to experience that kind of pain.

Leo was shaken off of his thoughts by Calypso poking him. "Reyna is addressing them now," she whispered. Leo certainly would like more of that whispering, especially in the various hotels they stayed at..., he wiggled his eyebrows. "Today, we address the next great prophecy," loudly stated Reyna, "And the arrival of Leo Valdez!" With that, the Senate upheaved in a revolt, senators shouting in cries and claims of blasphemy. Leo was really thankful that weapons weren't allowed inside the Pomerian line, he really didn't want to be poked by these sharp-looking sticks outside the entrance.

With a grin, Leo stood up waving his hands, "HEY THERE SENATORS OF NEW ROME! YOUR SUPREME CAPTAIN IS BACK!" That shut up the senators, also making some of them pass out. One of them fell face-first in a woopie pie he was eating. "G-ghost!" screamed one senator, bolting out of the building. Reyna sighed, "Someone get the mental squad, tell them Senator Casi has gone nuts again!" "NOW, SHUT UP!" she boomed. With gaping mouths, the senators all sat down. "Now, the prophecy," Reyna sighed. "Hazel, would you enlighten us please?" Hazel rushed from the front-row seat she was sitting on, and stood in front of the podium. "Fellow senators of New Rome," she said, "I give you the next great prophecy as announced by Rachel Dare!"

_Darkness and despair in endless night_

_Immortals and mortals' deepest plight_

_Royal Prison, Fate and gain_

_Through the fines of boundless pain_

_Heart and soul, shall nightfall banish_

_Daughter's light shall conquer and vanish_

Rioting started up with the senators again, with screams of night and despair. Reyna sighed, "I anticipated this would happen, Calypso, mind firing the flare gun?" "Happy to!" smiled Calypso, reaching for the flare gun hidden behind the podium. Calypso fired three shots in the air, an explosion of red shiners mesmerizing the senators. "Hey, where did the third flare go?" stated Leo, just now noticing that two went off. Confused, the senators looked around. "Hey! What's this?" said a new voice. "Scott!" exclaimed Reyna, "Put that down!" At that moment, the flare exploded, sending Scott flying, crashing through the door of the Senate House into the street behind it. "This is total anarchy," groaned Reyna, "Nothing makes sense anymore!"

Leo felt inclined to agree, if it wasn't for the centaur bursting through the door. With a mad scramble, the senators ducked out of the way. "My lady!" exclaimed the centaur, to the direction of Reyna. "N-news from Olympus!" Reyna sheathed her drawn sword, "What news Billy?" The centaur named Billy had to take a few minutes to catch some breath, and proceeded to lie down on the floor of the Senate House. "Terrible, m'lady," drawled Billy, "Olympus is in revolt, riots everywhere!" Calypso gasped, "Could this have anything to do with commotions here and in New Athens?" "Most probably m'am," said Billy. "And why?" questioned Reyna. "Because, because," stuttered Billy. "Out with it! exclaimed Reyna. What happened next made Leo gasp, as well as every other person in the room. Leo really thought this wasn't fair, life was SO screwed now. "The Fates have been kidnapped," said Billy solemnly.

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><p><strong>*Cackle* I hope you guys like the chapter! Remember to PRR! Post, Read, and REVIEW!<strong>


	7. VII: Leo

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! That's my statement :D. Seriously, hundreds of views on my story every day, and few reviews? Come on guys, you can do better than that! To answer some people:**

**Storymaker, thank you for your review! I appreciate your thoughts. I spaced out each chapter like you suggested, so we'll see how that goes! I personally think it's good having a cliffhanger for every chapter, since this is a work in progress, but everyone is different. **

**Finally, LoveDystopia! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews! I thank you SO MUCH for making such good reviews, and long ones at that! You make lovely reviews, and I LOVE reading long reviews, so keep them coming! I enjoy your comments after every chapter, and this makes me very happy, knowing that I have a reliable reviewer, who's not afraid to state opinion! Keep the long reviews coming! I enjoy them, and look forward to the one for this chapter!**

**So, anyway, this is a good size chapter again, I worked hard on it. And it's within the deadline ;D. Like I said, I'm sticking to my promise to you guys. I have the feeling you will all enjoy this chapter. This is a chapter of resolution for Leo in a specific way. A surprising thing is shared here, so I hope you all enjoy! Hopefully this will motivate you all to review ;D. **

**Also, there are some new words and specific phrases made up in this chapter, so just bear that in mind ;D, and yes, it includes blowy uppy!**

**So, without further ado... I give you...**

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><p><strong>VII. Leo<strong>

**If everyone had just stayed calm**, Leo would have been happy. But NOOO, the rioting just had to keep happening, and it DEFINITELY was worsening. "Calypso! Watch out!" Leo exclaimed, shoving Calypso aside as a Fruit Roll-Up, wine bottle, and cream pie hurtled at her. Leo sighed, why did their awesomeness have to attract a crazy, yet dedicated fanbase? If this kept up, he would have to withdraw party privileges! Besides him, Reyna shouted, "ROMANS! Calm yourself!" The turmoil increased, and Leo had to make a logical guess for once, the Fates' disappearance from Olympus probably affected the others as well. After all, they controlled destiny itself, weaving the er, well, fates of everybody on the planet. "Gah!" Leo thought to himself, he was getting WAY too book-smart. Dang Calypso... With an effort, several legionnaires burst through the Senate House, attempting to keep the crowd under control. Leo was impressed over the legionnaires' resilience, considering their destiny was kidnapped, as well as an army of bloodthirsty senators wielding pillow cushions.

Leo smelt something nasty in the air. With a nudge, he elbowed Hazel. "Hey, do you smell that? Smells like my Aunt Rosa's pits!" he smirked. Hazel wrinkled her nose, "Isn't that coming from-," as she was interrupted by the explosion of the dome directly above them. Leo yelped as everyone in the room scrambled for cover as a god crashed through. With smoking overalls, a bushy beard, and the creaking of an braced leg, Leo recognized the man as his own father, Hephaestus. "Sorry for the mess," Hephaestus grumbled, "Teleporting ain't working these days!" "D-dad?" Leo stammered. He hadn't seen Hephaestus since last summer, since, well, the Olympians tried choking the life out of his dear girlfriend. "Son," huffed Hephaestus, "Calypso, beautiful as always!" Around Leo, the Romans knelt, acknowledging the presence of an all-powerful blowy-uppy god. "Lord Vulcan," stated Hazel, curtsying solemnly. "Romans, the time is at hand!" boomed Hephaestus, "As you are aware, the Fates have been kidnapped!"

Thankfully, the presence of an all-powerful immortal being shut the Romans up for the first time in, well, a couple of hours. "Gee, about time!" thought Leo. "Leo, m'boy," butted in Hephaestus, "How ye doing?" "Uh, fine I guess?" said Leo, almost questioningly. Hephaestus patted Leo's shoulders, with twinkling eyes. Leo was shocked, his father never showed him this much affection, he really wasn't a people person. Not to mention, weren't gods not allowed to interact with their children? Okay, that last part was pretty sucktastic, Leo had to admit. Hephaestus smiled, "I know what you're thinking, m'boy, how am I here?" Leo nodded, he would REALLY like to know, as well as the crazy army of senators still kneeling below him. "Well," drawled Hephaestus, "The Fates upkeep em' ancient laws, so naturally, uhum, they're not in effectiveness now..." Leo grinned with wide eyes, they could have a father's day out! Too bad they have to handle rescuing bat-crazy grannies.

"So, what now my lord?" nervously ventured Reyna as she and the other Romans rose. "A quest is o' being assigned," muttered Hephaestus. "Hang tight, or yer all be vaporized!" "Wait, what?" questioned Calypso, speaking for the first time since a godly being crashed through their roof. She laced her hands tightly through Leo's. Leo had to smirk, Calypso just couldn't keep her hands off of him! This just proved his super-awesome demigodnishness. Around Leo, the Romans started muttering, as red lightning energy started coursing through the outer circle of the Senate House! "Wait, where are you taking us?!" panicked Calypso. "New Athens, hang on tight, shut yer yaps up, or yer' all vaporize!" exclaimed Hephaestus. Leo's eyes widened, "WAIT! DAD!" And that' when the lightning surrounded them, flashing them out of existence. "AHHHHHH!" Leo screamed, not caring whether he sounded like a girl or not. Hazel and the others were worse, especially Calypso, who was screaming her head off.

"Bang!" Leo plopped on his butt as the entire party of Romans, himself, Calypso, and Hephaestus crashed onto the _agora_ of New Athens. Hephaestus smashed onto the stone bricks, stirring up a dust storm with a loud crack. The first four columns surrounding him toppled to the ground, crushing the several dozen plants adorning their bases. With a gasp, Leo checked himself for all his body parts. Arms? Check. Legs? Check. Extremely hot girlfriend? Double check! With a shaky frame, Leo stumbled up to his feet, pulling a clutching Calypso up to him. Around Leo, the Romans got up as well, Hazel supporting Reyna. "Wait, where's Festus?" Leo thought, "Ah, I'll just get him back later!" "Frank!" exclaimed Hazel, "Where is he?!" Hephaestus frowned, "Er, I had thought I di'o furget something..., eh we'll get him later." Hazel face-palmed at that, but didn't say anything for fear of getting blasted to bits. Leo immediately panicked, being in New Athens was NOT a good idea, especially with the entire Greek community thinking he was dead...

"L-Leo?" butted in a new voice. Whirling around, Leo immediately noticed a wide-eyed Jason and Piper, as well as every single cabin leader happening to be within his visual radius. "Oh great," groaned Leo, "More adoring fans!" "Oh joy, what we needed, more nutso demigods!" groaned Dionysus as he walked forward to the group. Leo noticed the Olympians all milling around, now staring at them too. "Lee Vale," muttered Dionysus, "What in Zeus' good name possessed you to drag yourself back here?" Zeus glowered, and made a move to tackle Dionysus, but Poseidon stepped forward. "Peace brother," Poseidon stated. Leo bulged, he would SO bet money on Poseidon to win that match. Zeus backed down, and Leo had to sigh, there went a hundred drachmas! With a cry, Leo noticed Piper and Jason rushing forward, engulfing him in a hug.

Every cabin leader then proceeded to do the same, making a huge circle around him. Lou Ellen, Will Solace, Clarisse LaRue, Nico, you name it, everyone was tightly hugging him. "G-guys, can't b-r-eathe," choked out Leo. At that moment, Piper chose to punch him in the stomach. "Gah!" Leo groaned as he toppled to the ground, for probably the dozenth time today.

"Dang, that woman has aim!" thought Leo has he struggled to get up. He would have to go to the infirmary to get his stomach pumped, it was taking WAY too much. "Sigh, there goes another fifty drachmas," mused Leo. He would have to start a gambling ring just to get his funds back. Hmm, would the Stolls be interested? Leo broke out of his thoughts with Jason rushing up to him, giving him a man-hug, in a awkward, but yet non-creepy way. Leo sighed yet again, he was too popular for his own good!

Ignoring his pain, Leo spread his arms in a grin, "Uncle Leo is back my peeps!" The campers all proceeded to cheer, interrupted by the groaning of the gods. "For Hades sake Valdez," groaned Hermes, "You couldn't tone it down?" Poseidon butted in, "Well Hermes, our little cheerful ball of fire will always be an annoying thorn!" "Wait," frowned Piper, turning toward the immortals. "You mean to say he was alive all this time? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?!" With a roar, Piper tried tackling Hermes, but was restrained by Jason. "Calm down Pipes," he muttered, "We'll talk later." Jason's glasses were slightly knocked over by the fuss Piper made.

Leo had to grin, Piper's warrior ferociousness still hadn't diminished. "Be careful dear," stated Aphrodite, "We wouldn't want dear Hermes hurting you now, would we?" Her flowing pink dress swirled around as she fanned herself. Leo saw Piper roll her eyes, probably with turmoil. "I brought 'em like ye wanted Zeus," cut in Hephaestus, strolling out of his blast zone without a care in the world. Leo grinned, his dad was pretty epic! The power of Hephaestusness! "Yes," grumbled the lord of the sky, "Campers, we have much to discuss!" Leo noticed Calypso in a corner, slightly trembling from all the commotion, especially seeing Percy off to the side. Leo was lucky he hadn't seen Calypso yet, he was too busy quietly talking with Annabeth. Zeus snapped his fingers, and immediately, every person in the area was in a cushioned, pure white chair facing fifteen makeshift thrones. Happily enough, Calypso was plopped right in his lap. "Couldn't stay away from me _chica_?" Leo grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. "Oh please, as if!" said a grinning Calypso. Leo pulled Calypso closer, and noticed much of the campers and Romans were STILL staring at him.

Jason and Piper were teary eyed, looking on from further down the crowd. Leo made a mental note to talk to them later, they were probably really hurting right now. He felt really bad, kinda ashamed too. Gee, only clowns were supposed to be ashamed! He had a run-in with a demented clown last month, don't ask. Let's just say there are some scars Leo would prefer to forget. "As you know campers," boomed Hades, dressed in his usual black garb, and, wait, was that mascara? "The Fates are kidnapped, destiny is unraveling!" "A quest will be issued," stated Demeter, her wheat-colored hair and her green sundress flowing down her body. "The Fates need to be returned at all costs! If this continues, the world itself will unravel, allowing the fines of doom to breathe!" Leo frowned, fines of doom? Sounded kind of like a brand of yarn, if you asked him. "Wait, ohhhhhh, yarn.., nevermind!" he thought. "As the ancient laws are not in effect at the moment," Zeus grumbled, "Us gods may assist you on the quest, in limited quantities!" That elicited a buzzing chatter among the campers. Since when could immortals actually spend time with their kids? "I suggest you make it last," butted in Zeus, "Once the Fates are returned, we conform back to the laws!"

Leo felt kinda cheated. Sure, Hephaestus was here, but he would have to go back? That was absolutely sucktastic! Well, at least he still had Calypso, the hottest girl on Earth, and well, all his friends. Okay, maybe it wasn't so bad, but still! "Joy Zeus, what a pleasant announcement!" muttered Poseidon, thumping his trident. Poseidon was dressed in his usual Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirt, and a beaten up fishing cap. Turning around, Leo saw Percy gazing at his father with a grin on his face. Leo smirked, knowing Percy, he would SO take advantage of his time. Turning back to the council, Leo noticed Athena, dressed in a _chiton_ dress, glaring at Percy. "Hey, you alright?" said Calypso. "Everything's alright with Uncle Leo!" he smirked. Calypso rolled her eyes and punched him, "No, the other kind of alright.." "Oh.., yeah!" stated Leo, keeping up his happy facade. "Quest members need to be chosen," said Zeus, "This is no easy task, rescuing the Fates themselves, and finding out this threat we are against!" "That much is obvious brother," grumbled Hades. "All I know, the threat sure isn't a happy camper, er, excuse the pun!"

Leo saw Zeus stroke his beard, keeping a close eye on him. Gee, Zeus really needed a shave. Leo didn't feel like saying that out loud though, unless he wanted to end up in a pair of Hades' underwear. "Holy Hephaestus," thought Leo, "Now that's creepy!" "I suggest giving it a day my lord," suggested Hecate, goddess of magic, "We need to digest this!" "Indeed," said Zeus, "This matter does need to be resolved soon, council dismissed!" With a snap, Zeus poofed out the chairs. Thudding on the ground, Leo was sure his butt was broken by now, especially with Calypso on top of him. Now, normally, he would be the one on top in other areas.., but not today. Giving a nod to Jason and Thalia, which WHOA, Leo just noticed a group of fifty hunters happening to stalk right behind the plaza, Zeus warped out of their visual plane. "Well, I ain't going anywhere," said Hephaestus, tinkering with an assortment of parts he pulled from thin air. The other remaining gods muttered agreements, and scattered off to wherever their kids probably were. Leo kinda felt bad for Hermes, he would have to deal with thirty of his own screaming kids...

Pulling Calypso to her feet, again, Leo caught Piper's eye. Talk to you later, her look said. Leo sighed, he was SO going to be chewed out by Mama Bear later! "I'm heading out to the forges m'boy," quietly said Hephaestus, "You coming?" Leo grinned, "Of course dad! Mr. McShizzle is coming!" Hephaestus and Calypso both rolled their eyes simultaneously. Leo turned, widening his eyes at the GIGANTIC smokestack-belching forge two streets ahead of him, and immediately bolted for it. Even though the end of the world might be happening again, Leo was pretty happy. A girlfriend who could get dirty in both kinds of ways, and a no-longer-absent-but-yet-will-be father? Life was getting SAH-WEET. Leo knew he would have to face the music with everyone else later, but he needed out for now. Halfway to the forges, a new voice came in, "Leo!" said Nyssa as she rushed up to him, hugging him tightly. "Hey Nyss," smiled Leo, hugging her back just as equally. "Don't leave us again you idiot!" she exclaimed. "Don't worry, he's naturally an idiot," smirked Calypso. Nyssa smirked, "I think I like this girl!" Hephaestus had to snicker, and Leo rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure, let's go," he said, waving his hands in a shooing motion. In all, things were going pretty good, if it wasn't for the dragon falling from the sky.

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><p><strong>Bit abrupt isn't it? ;D. I should be updating either tomorrow or on Friday. Just added this quick note.<strong>


	8. VIII: Leo

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Just getting you guys's attention ;D. I'm please with the amount of reviews for last chapter, let's keep it up like that!**

**For all my reviewers last chapter, thanks a lot! I'll keep all your suggestions in mind.**

**LoveDystopia, thank you FOR YOUR AWESOME REVIEW! Keep them coming like that ;D. Oh, BTW, I loved your Charmander comment so much, I had to drop it in the chapter somewhere, so thanks a lot for it! Don't worry, all credit goes to you ;D. I like Pokemon BTW, do you too? I'm looking forward to your next awesome review for this chapter! **

**So guys, final chapter for our Captain of Flame, Leo! I certainly worked hard to give him a good sendoff, so I hope you all enjoy!**

**-Also, I will be revising the last chapter, Chapter 7 a little bit, to make some of the dialogue fit better and a bit less choppy. Will do it when I have more time. **

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Rick Riordian!**

***Yes, I know awesomest is not a word, it just conforms to Leo.**

**So, without further ado... Here ya go ;D**

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><p><strong>VIII: Leo<strong>

**If it wasn't for two dragons actually falling from the sky**, Leo was sure he was hallucinating. A bronze dragon glided down, with a light-gray dragon cruising right behind it. Both of them were spitting out fire, and Leo had to grin. The dragons were the very definition of fiery awesomeness! Another point for Team Leo! Grinning even wider, Leo recognized Festus swooping down, with far over one-thousand Fahrenheit's worth of fire breathing from his maw. Leo didn't recognize the gray dragon at all, it must have come to admire his ever so growing awesome demigodnishness! Oh, all his fans were getting desperate now, Leo was sure of it. "Leo!" screamed Nyssa! "What the heck is that?!" Nyssa and Calypso both ducked behind Hephaestus, making the god stumble, as well as eliciting a confused look on his face. "What's wrong with ye all?" questioned Hephaestus, "Never seen a fire-breathing dragon bef'ore?" Leo puffed up us chest, "Of course they have dad! They're just terrified of the glory that is Leo!" With a groan, Calypso and Nyssa face-palmed. "The only glory you're ever having is face in the dirt," muttered Calypso.

"Frank!" exclaimed a new voice. Leo saw Hazel run over to the gray dragon now settling five yards from them. "Ah, so THAT'S what it was," thought Leo. Dang, he really thought the dragon came to observe him in all his godly action. Frank the dragon twisted and turned, morphing into a tall, Asian-looking boy with a bow and set of arrows strung on his back, as well as a gray hoodie fitted on his top. Or, as Leo liked to call him, Chinese Canadian Baby Man! Leo had to smirk, being friends with a cussing horse had it's advantages. "Leo!" shouted Frank, just now finishing his hug with Hazel and jogging over to him. Leo gulped, he would rather face an execution squad than face the might of Frank, towering well over six feet and a couple inches. "G-ACK!" choked Leo as Frank proceeded to scoop him and crush him in another hug, amongst the gaze of a snickering Hephaestus, Calypso, Nyssa, and Hazel. Leo had to sigh, he was getting too popular for his own good, the fan mobs were starting to get too much. Before you know it, he would need to pack up and move to another country! Well, technically, that did happen for a bit, but whatever.

"We thou-t-ought you were dead!" choked out Frank. "Gee, a little slow there big guy, Hazel said that already," muttered Leo. Frank glared at him, punching Leo in the arm. Groaning again for probably the sixth time today, Leo curled up on the ground. He was SO going to need a bodyguard, there were far too many crazed fans these days. After all, no one could resist the power of Uncle Leo! "Never do that again Valdez," growled Frank. Leo shot up and saluted Frank, "YES SIR!" "At ease Valdez," grinned Frank. With a nod, Leo slung his shoulder over Calypso, jerking her close to him. "And Franko, this is my lovely little _chica_, Calypso!" exclaimed Leo. "Stuff it Valdez, I'm not your personal property!" stated Calypso, though she couldn't do it without a grin. At that moment, Leo knew his awesomeness would forever be imprinted onto the world!

At that moment, Leo felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he ran straight into a grinning Percy. "As a housewarming gift Leo...," he said as Annabeth jogged up by his side with a bucket, "FEEL THIS!" Widening his eyes, and Calypso scrambling out of the way, an extremely large ice-cold water bucket was tossed over his head. Leo didn't care about his dignity at the moment, he more cared about screaming like a little girl as the water soaked through all his good possessions. "HOLY HEPHAESTUS, YOU MONSTERS!" screamed Leo, prancing around like a ballerina while the gathered demigods, mortal titaness and present god cackled their pretty little heads off. "Hey, you know, wouldn't Leo be dead right now?" mused Jason as he walked up, hand to hand with Piper, "Since, technically, he's a Charmander and they die when their fire goes out?" "Jason, this isn't Pokemon," face-palmed Annabeth, while Piper had to groan at that comment too. Leo scrambled up to his feet, again, "Uncle Leo never dies my peeps! ETERNAL SALIVATION!" "What about eternal punching?" mused Piper. "On second thought, I'm okay!" Leo exclaimed. He was REALLY overdue for a stomach pump.

"Can't handle some water m'boy?" questioned Hephaestus as he shuffled up to Leo. The others bowed their head to Hephaestus out of respect. Leo smiled, of course he didn't have to, his daddy was there! That, and his awesomeness outshines the need to bow anywhere, especially to a pile of potty sludge. Cocking his head to his side, Hephaestus looked deep in thought. Suddenly, he spoke up, startling the living Hades out of Leo. "Excuse m'e, Zeus is a-calling," as Hephaestus warped out of existence in a column of flame, singing the eyebrows of Jason and Piper, who mistakenly got close enough. Leo smirked, his fireproof powers just demonstrated the reason for his awesome existence in the universe! "Youch!" exclaimed Piper as she jumped back with Jason. Whirling around to face Leo, "You and I are having a little chat mister," she growled. "HAHA!" cackled Percy, until Annabeth slapped him on the arm to shut him up. "Kill me now," Leo thought. "Gladly," smirked a new, rich, baritone voice as it echoed through Leo's mind before diseappearing. "Okay, that was weird...," thought Leo. "OWOWOW!" exclaimed Leo as Piper grabbed him by the ear, dragging him down the cobblestone streets, with Jason in tow. Man, that woman had grip! "Good luck Leo!" waved Hazel. "Have fun!" smirked Frank. "Gee, thanks for the love guys!" screamed Leo as Piper dragged him into a side alley.

"Uh, okay, I think I can-," stammered Leo as Piper halted him to a stop. Dang, that girl WAS SCARY! Even Jason was fidgeting a bit. "Wimp much?" snorted Leo, inwardly of course. "Explain," deeply growled Piper. "Uh okay, so island, girl, world tour, falling from sky, harpies, all the lot!" stuttered out Leo. Jason raised his hand, "Uh, isn't that what Leo usually does?" Piper turned around, "Muzzle it Sparky," she said with a sweet grin. Leo looked around for an escape route, if Piper went nuts, there was still a slim chance he could escape! Better yet, he could find Calypso and escape the city and Piper's wrath! That girl could hit way harder than any five pound hammer could... Shaking out of his thoughts by Piper literally shaking him, Leo focused on her kaleidoscope eyes, shining with tears. "I'm just glad you're okay," she sniffled, burying her face in Leo's chest. "There there Pipes," patted Leo, "We need to focus on one thing, okay?" "what?" muttered Jason, taking a step closer. "The fact of my natural awesomeness," smirked Leo. He could feel Piper grin, "Shut up," she said. Jason shook his head, "And there's our Leo back," he muttered.

Clutching Piper's hands in his own, Leo noticed a shiny little ring on her finger. "Ooo, what's this?" he smirked, "A piece of jewelry for our Pipes?" "Engagement ring," muttered Piper. "Geez Jason, now you're stuck with Princess for the rest of your life!" boomed Leo. "Yeah, but she's my princess, smiled Jason, pulling Piper to her wrist. "He proposed yesterday!" squealed Piper. "Pipes, your inner Aphrodite is showing, muttered Leo. "Oh sorry!" she shrieked. "It's just, I'm so-," Leo cut her off by putting his finger on her lips. "Shh shh there, Papa Leo is here to help!" "Now Jase," said Leo, sizing Jason up. He noticed Jason's glasses were slightly bent, and he was wearing denim shorts, as well as a plain orange top. Looking back at Piper, she was smashing in a purple silky top with slim blue jeans. "You better not harm her, or you've unleashed the beast!" Leo stared at Jason, sluicing his own throat with the kill thumb. "Uh, okay-ish?" droned Jason, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey! Leo!" a new voice popped in from the entrance of the alley. "Calypso! Over here!" Leo exclaimed. Jogging over to Leo, Calypso looked stunning as always. Her blue dress was cleaned up well, and she was running barefoot. "Eh," thought Leo, "Makes her look hotter anyway!" "This half-horse man demands you guys," frowned Calypso, "He's talking about the quest or something." "Ooo, who's this?" exclaimed Piper. "I'm glad you asked Pipes, this is the eternal love of my life, Calypso!" grinned Leo, snaking an arm around Calypso's waist. "And this is my cute little scrawny man," smirked Calypso, shooting a look back at Leo. "I'm wounded! Scrawny? Have you seen my buff muscles?" demanded Leo, flexing his left arm. Piper stared, "Uh, I don't think I see anything Leo...," she said. Calypso cackled, "I think we'll get along really well," she said. "Did I ever tell you about the time Leo popped-?," she started. "Tell me more, grinned Piper, lacing an arm around Calypso. Leo groaned, following them out of the alley with Jason by his side.

"I know man," said Jason, shooting him a sympathetic look. "I'm dead," groaned Leo. On the bright side, he could go square-dancing with Beckendorf in the underworld or something. Leo wasn't sure about square-dancing, but eh, whatever. With wide eyes, Leo noticed the city of New Athens around him. "Okay, this is new," he muttered. Leo spied countless coffee shops and vendors surrounding the dozens of streets yawning from their current location. In the distance, Leo could see an acropolis, very much like the one in the original Athens. He mentally shuddered, the last time he was there with the Seven, the world kinda turned evil on them. Not to mention, a crazy army of giants demanding their blood. "Pretty sweet, right?" butted in Jason. "Took some time, but Annabeth created all this!" Leo whistled, Annabeth's designs were pretty sweet. He especially liked the way these horizontal lines complimented the columns leading into that garden. Keeping up with the girls in front of them, Leo recognized them turning back toward the _agora_. "The_ agora_ is pretty much our informal place," grumbled Jason. "So, it's basically our new ping-pong table?" questioned Leo. "Yeah, pretty much," shot back Jason.

"Leo, good to see you again," warmly smiled Chiron as the group entered the _agora_. Noticing Leo enter, the gathered demigods cheered into a deafening roar. "YES, UNCLE LEO IS BACK, AND ALIVE! FEEL THE BURN!" he shouted. Thumping his hoof against the ground, Chiron got the others to attention. "Now now, my friends, our quest," he stated. "As said by the gods, the Fates are essential, and must be rescued!" "Why can't we just leave 'em?" questioned Clarisse, sharpening a knife, as usual. Leo smiled, Clarisse's violence hadn't diminished one bit. "In case you hadn't noticed," butted in Katie Gardener, "Everything is infinimste without them!" "Ina-what?" said Calypso, speaking up. "Think of it this way," said Will Solace, taking attention of the crowd. Gee, Leo knew Will was certainly one to get attention, but with poetry? Shame on him! "The Fates dictate how many ways come and go," Will said. "Without them, we're lost!" That puzzled Leo, and probably everyone else in the agora, as evidenced by the confused muttering of the crowd. Okay, Leo could get the ways part, but being lost? Like in a labyrinth or something? "Okay, scratch that," Leo thought. He heard about the labyrinth, and DID NOT want to get in that creepy place. It was probably as creepy as that fajita he saw in Fiji one time. Now THAT had been one heck of a weekend!

"How are we even supposed to get started?" shrugged Lou Ellen from Hecate. "Precisely so," butted in Eli, head of the Nike cabin. "The gods may have several clues, they've asked the chosen quest members to convene at Olympus at once," muttered Chiron. Leo looked around, and there conveniently happened to be fifteen missing immortals. "Ohhh, they're in ANOTHER meeting, of course," thought Leo. He really thought he would have to turn in an AMBER alert on a group of highly powerful missing immortals. "This is no easy task," warned Chiron. "No duh," butted in Percy from the back of the crowd. He was gripping Annabeth tightly, his face slightly pale. Leo frowned, was he having a flashback or something? "The gods need an answer soon," pleaded Chiron, "Let us tread carefully young ones!" Chattering broke out in the _agora_, with countless legacies and demigods talking to one another in small groups. Running up to Percy and Annabeth, Leo noticed the rest of the Seven converging on them. "What now guys?" questioned Calypso, sticking to Leo's side, gazing upon the other six. "I don't know," frowned Piper, "It seems likely some of us should go."

"Hey wait, it's the Seven of us back together again!" exclaimed Percy. "Shouldn't we have balloons or cake or something?" "I second that!" Leo spoke up. Leo REALLY needed some cake here, he was slightly deprived of sugar. But then again, sugar was a BAD IDEA for all demigods, well, mostly."It's too much of a risk having all of us on this quest," muttered Jason, "We're all needed in other areas!" Leo felt inclined to agree, the most powerful demigods in the world all in one quest area? You might as well point a tactical nuke at them, saying LOL NOOBS, before blowing them all up in an fiery explosion. Which, of course Leo would survive, due to his awesomeness reflecting off any warded attacks. Together, they would be pretty impressive though, WAY outshining Chuck Norris! Leo didn't really like that son of Zeus though, just because he showed up in Walker, Texas Ranger, didn't have to mean he was the awesomest demigod ever, that was reserved for Leo! "This is going to need magicians," muttered Annabeth. "Preferably children of Hecate perhaps?" Leo noticed Annabeth looking at Calypso out of the corner of her eye, did she say something while he was gone with Piper? Either way, it looked like it was going okay, which was good, considering Calypso's history with Percy... "Oh Hades," thought Leo, "Bet you they talked..." Wow, this was REALLY going to be awkward later. "I'LL GO!" butted in a voice, which Leo and just about everyone else in the room turned around to face.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked! Review!<strong>


	9. IX: Piper

**New Notes:**

***OCTOBER 27, 2014: RE-EDIT. This switches, because I made a mistake in production, it was like 11 o-clock last night, and my dad was yelling at me, which sidetracked the whole chapter completely. I've re-edited it so it's a little different.**

**-Lovedystopia, whoo, your original chapter 9 review, hit me like a sledgehammer lol. You must really have been having a bad day! I've never written romance before, so I may have gotten carried away, sorry! I replaced some of the romance with a better explanation of events that have occurred.**

**NEXT UPDATE: BETWEEN OCTOBER 28,2014 THROUGH OCTOBER 209, 2014 DUE TO ME REEDITING THIS CHAPTER A LITTLE BIT, AND I HAVE BEEN BUSY SETTING UP AN NETWORK YESTERDAY.**

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><p><strong>Original Notes:<strong>

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Just making sure you guys got it ;D. I was pleased with the amount of reviews for last chapter, so let's keep it up like that ;D. Also, I ask you all follow me on my account, so you can get updates to the story without having to sift through pages, also, you will get access to other stories I will be writing after this so no one gets confused. Now, for REVIEWS!**

**-lovedystopia, Thanks again for your awesome review! I have pokemon x/y, do you too? I will be getting Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. I'm going with Omega Ruby, since fire types are my favorite. Also, what state or time zone do you live in? I ask this because your perception of time seems similar to mine... How funny would it be if we lived in the same town?! Also, if you want my friend code, just ask!**

**-StoryMaker, You hit it right on the head! Lou Ellen is on the quest, yes. I'm shocked you nailed it ;D.**

**-SonofAll, Really?! As a fellow guy to guy, I'm shocked, lol. My story turned you off three women? That makes me feel happy, yet in a creepy way too that you're appreciating this story lol. Anyway, there's a bit of romanticism in this chapter to kind of make up for that ;D. **

**Court and Guest, You'll find out ;D.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Uncle Rick... As if *cough***

**I will warn you guys, this chapter is a bit more romantic, and the first reason for the T rating pops up a bit here. Good luck, and I hope I did okay...**

***Also, and yes, I acknowledge the fact of some words in this chapter not existing, after all, I gotta convey the mind of a demigod though ;D.**

**So, without further ado, I give you...**

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><p><strong>IX. Piper<strong>

**Piper wasn't expecting to see a cyclops throw a club at her**. But then again, her life wasn't really normal. Besides being a vegetarian, murderer of a eons old earth goddess, and a charmspeaking demigod, she was sure she was okay. "Take cover!" shouted Lou Ellen as she ducked behind a creaking steel beam. Around her, Hazel and Jason scrambled for cover under some dangling, broken cranes. "HIYAHH!" yelled Jason as he swerved his hand, while gusting winds whirled around Piper's head, crushing the cyclops under tons of rubble. "GRAHHH!" yelled a second cyclops, charging Piper with a extremely large stick. At that moment, Piper felt as if she was a matador, herding bulls at the rodeo. With a yell, she somersaulted under the cyclops, stabbing Katoptris in the extremely large right thigh of that green, hairy beast. Well, Piper was sure the cyclops was terrible, it was the hairiest one she had seen in her life. Which was saying a lot, considering she's faced down thousands upon thousands of bloodthirsty monsters. "GWAH!" yelled the cyclops as it hobbled down on the cement floor. "Piper!" exclaimed Hazel, crawling out of her hideaway, "You alright?" With a nod, Piper jogged over to the cyclops. Around her, Jason, Lou Ellen, and Hazel surrounded the cyclops, swords at the ready. Basically, it was a collection of dangerous, pointy objects against an ugly face.

"P-please," whimpered the cyclops, "Spare me!" Piper knew that voice was fake, it had lead her in FAR too many traps. Dangling over a boiling cauldron wasn't one of the favorite things she had done. "And what do I get from it?" growled Lou Ellen, pressing the tip of her sword deeper in the cyclops' neck. Piper thought Lou Ellen was kind of scary right now, but that was warranted considering she was having a bad day. First, Conner Stoll dyed her hair bright green this morning, and she was attacked by a feral raccoon halfway through their trek in this abandoned shipyard. Honestly, Piper was shocked Lou hadn't lost it by now. "ANYTHING!" screamed the cyclops, a tear protruding from it's eye. "Lou," butted in Jason, pushing her aside. Glaring at the cyclops, "Where's the grannies?" Jason demanded. "W-why would I say-, GWAHHH!" yelled the cyclops as a sword pressed closer to his eye. "OKAY, OKAY! I DON'T KNOW!" Piper had to groan, they traveled halfway across the Atlantic coast, to the shipyards in Hampton Roads, Virginia, for nothing. Riding a sled behind Arion wasn't fun at all, more like taking a trip in a blender. Hazel was thrilled though, Piper swore she hollered like a madman all the way down the coast.

Okay, maybe the information the Olympians gave them were a little off. Well, scratch that, WAY OFF. Piper flash-backed to the meeting with the gods barely hours ago. _"Quite honestly, we really don't know," thundered Zeus. "What do you mean you don't know?" retorted Lou Ellen, gripping her staff tightly. As usual, they were meeting in the throne room of Olympus, with fifteen highly powerful blasty immortals. "There there dear," smiled Hecate, rising from her throne, "What Zeus means to say, is that we simply don't know where they are." "So," stepped in Jason, "You all can't see either?" "There should be a cyclops informant somewhere in Virginia," butted in Hades, "We have reason to suspect he's working for whoever's facing us." "Trust me," grumbled Hermes, "If we could do this, I would certainly blast him." The mood in the room shifted as eighteen pairs of eyes rested to Zeus. "Er, well, just hop to it," muttered Zeus. Piper felt the urge to roll her eyes, Zeus was one for dramatics. Not to mention the irony, considering the lord of the sky had a secret fear of bunnies. Hera accidentally let it slip one time, making Zeus the laughingstock of the entire Greek and Roman schism._

And now, here they were, facing said cyclops, which oddly looked like a close relative of Bigfoot. "But I know one thing!" stuttered the cyclops, "Eris can certainly tell you where they are!" "And where is she?" questioned Hazel, leaning closer. "And why-," the cyclops started, interrupted by yet more painful screaming. Piper was convinced the guy could easily pass for the world's best yodeler. "NASHVILLE, NASHVILLE!" yelled the cyclops. "Thanks," said Lou Ellen with a sickly smile, "NOW EAT THIS!" Lou then proceeded to shove her sword in the middle of the cyclops' eye. He barely had time to shriek before erupting in a pile of goo. Splatting all over them, Piper felt sick. This was the reason why she didn't eat meat, she was sure she would puke. Widening her eyes, Piper was also a little unnerved by Lou's savagery, and she could tell poor Hazel was too. "Uh, guys," stated Hazel, "I think-," and she was cut off by puking all over Jason. "ACK!" yelled Jason, as a half gallon's worth of liquid shrimp got dunked all over his clothes. Rolling over the ground, he desperately tried getting the smell off. Piper sighed, Jason was as dramatic as his dad these days. Sheathing Katoptris, she tapped Jason, "Hey Sparky, get up!" "No... Too.. Weak!" he stuttered out, before pulling Piper down with him. "GAH, SPARKY!" yelled Piper.

Before bathing in puke with Jason, Piper was just hoping all this would go smoothly. After all, it couldn't be hard breaking in something, rescuing old grannies, and getting out, right? Sadly, it usually wasn't simple for demigods like them. For all Piper knew, the grannies would bat their heads over with clubs if they tried to get out. The Fates were pretty well known for screwing with people's lives after all. "Uh guys," stated Hazel, "You might want to, you know, get off?" "I'm going to be sick at this rate," muttered Lou Ellen. Scrambling up, Piper smacked Jason on the arm, eliciting a yelp from him. "That's for puking me Sparky," she muttered. "Didn't Hazel technically-," began Jason. "Ah, just forget it," said Piper. Her day wasn't really going all that great. "We should probably camp up," stated Lou Ellen, shaking Piper out of her thoughts. Gazing around the perimeter of the shipyard, Lou started chanting spells, masking their presence from nearby monsters. Piper shuddered as she felt a layer of fine mist envelope them, obscuring them from plain sight. Piper felt envious for Lou Ellen, being a daughter of Hecate certainly did have it's advantages.

Rustling in the bag, Hazel pulled out several camping tents, a fridge, four flashlights, and a electric fire. Again, thanks to Lou Ellen, the green five-pound bag Hazel held could contain as much items as they wanted. Piper found that insanely useful, considering they needed as much help as they could get on yet another doomsday quest. But hey, just another day in the life of a demigod. Gazing at the sunset, Piper wondered what was going to happen. Would she ever see it again? Well, she was sure about that dozens of times already. But hey, after countless doomsday quests, they were still here after all. Approaching behind her, Jason gripped her waist. "Whatcha doing?" he smiled, kissing down her neck. Piper shuddered, Jason freaking needed to stop making her lose focus! One time, Hazel walked in on them, and the poor girl wouldn't go within twenty feet of Piper for a full month. Sometimes, Piper felt sympathetic for Hazel, having being born from the old traditions of the nineteen-forties. It made her SO much better with the socially awkward Frank too. Piper held back a shriek, she WORSHIPPED Frazel. And Caleo, and Percabeth, and... okay, getting off topic. She really hated her Aphrodite side showing off like this sometimes.

"Beignets ready!" exclaimed Hazel. Piper swerved over to the now fully-furnished camp, with Jason in tow. She followed the wafting smell of beignets, which Hazel genuinely loved to cook. "Oh, FOOD...," moaned Jason, and Piper's stomach did a somersault. Laid on a blanket included: shrimp gumbo, beignets, turkey, fries, corn, and all that _mumbo jumbo_. Leaning down to reach for some fries, Piper's hand was smacked by Lou-Ellen's. "Nuh uh," repled Lou, "Change first!" "You guys do kind of stink," said Hazel, scrunching up her nose. Rolling her eyes, Piper grabbed a change of clothes in the bag, and ducked in the nearest tent with Jason behind her. Unzipping her lavender jacket and proceeding to change, she felt Jason's hand cover her eyes. "Mind if I help you with that?" smirked Jason. Piper scoffed, "You've helped enough today Sparky, thank you." Quite honestly, she didn't mind changing around Jason, they certainly knew each other, erm, well enough for that. Jason shrugged, taking off his green t-shirt, and Piper felt the urge not to drool at his toned six-pack. Changing into a pink top, Piper watched Jason finish, mostly drooling the whole time.

Seizing his hand, Piper dragged Jason outside to a waiting Hazel and Lou Ellen. "OM NOM!" grunted Jason, diving into the food like a pig. Hazel and Lou Ellen exchanged a look. Boys. Piper thought it was kind of cute. Plus, none of them hadn't really eaten since seven A.M. that morning. Shrugging it off, Piper grabbed some fries and corn, wolfing them down. Man, Hazel REALLY knew how to cook. Piper honestly didn't know how Hazel managed to befriend the harpies at camp, they usually wolfed down demigods. Harpies were surprisingly good cooks, and they gave Hazel a hand. In all, Piper was pretty satisfied on the way the quest started. They could be on the streets, bumming for food for all they liked. But yet here they were, enjoying a nice fire, safe and sound from monsters, with food in their begging stomachs. "Mm, so good," moaned Lou Ellen as she wolfed down a turkey leg. Piper felt sympathetic for the poor turkey, and a little turned off too. Besides them, Hazel sipped on some gumbo soup, reveling in the taste. Piper felt SO good right now, pushing the thought of saving old hags out of her mind. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best thing to say, the Fates could definitely screw them over. "Eh, whatever," thought Piper, their lives were pretty much that during apocalypses.

In all, Piper was having a pretty hectic day. Just six hours ago, she happened to volunteer for another doomsday quest, meet with all-powerful immortals, and take a sleigh ride on a cursing horse. Piper was surprised Jason was the first one to volunteer for the quest, going as so far to yell it out. Lou Ellen then volunteered, since they needed a magician, and then so did Hazel. Now Piper volunteered, and she really wasn't sure why. Gee, as soon as they volunteered, they immediately _just had _to be instantly teleported to Olympus. Piper felt bad she didn't even get to talk to Leo some more, considering he sort of came back from the dead. Piper made a mental note to get Leo a_ welcome back from the dead_ gift later. It felt like a gust of blast from some _venti_, her best friend coming back from the dead, having a fiance, and going on another suicide quest. Just another day in the life of an average demigod. If it wasn't for that, Piper was sure that she would have gone crazy a long time ago.

"Ima-going,-" yawned Hazel as she crawled into her tent, disposing of her junk. "Turning in," muttered Lou Ellen, as she crawled into hers as well. Balling up her trash, Piper nudged Jason. With a smirked, he closed his eyes, and a small flash of lighting struck the trash, turning it to ashes. Piper grinned, Jason could be a natural garbage man. Solving all the world's trash one at a time! Crawling in her tent while Jason cleaned up, Piper's thoughts reflected to her future. Surely, as Lou Ellen and Hazel volunteered for the quest, so did she for the hope of all this being over. Piper was sure she already had enough excitement in her life. Just get in, get the Fates, destroy the threat, and get out, that's all. Then hopefully she could start planning her wedding. Stifling a girlish giggle, "He proposed, he proposed!" exclaimed Piper over and over in her mind. That fool Jason finally got the nerve to propose! Piper was waiting for this moment for countless months. But no, they had to go on another death-defying quest. Piper knew Jason was doing this out of duty, wanting to protect everyone. Piper smiled, that was one of the things she loved about him. But she was worried, would they make it out of this? Oh, of course, probably. She was probably just overreacting. After all, facing down a powerful earth goddess puts a new penchant on life.

Pulling off her shorts, Piper groaned as she snuggled into her sleeping bag. It was bright red, with warm insulation. Piper kind of wished she had her old stuffed bears from her dad's Malibu mansion with her. They would make great cuddling partners! "AGH!" shouted someone from outside. With a start, Piper recognized the voice as Jason. Pulling herself out of her sleeping bag, Piper wondered just what Jason was doing. Jason crashed through the flap of the tent, his glasses disheveled and a crazy look on his face. "P-Pipes," he gasped, "I swear to you, these raccoons...!" "These creepy little things have been looking at me all day!" Piper felt the urge to roll her eyes, what could be so wrong about fluffy little raccoons? They were just so cute, licking their cute little paws, chittering like nobody's business. Eh, they just probably didn't like Jason and Lou Ellen. Piper remembered this one time a raccoon ran on a golf course. On one of her little 'excursions', she noticed a raccoon run on a golf course, stealing a ball, and running into a tree. She suppressed a giggle, she was really going far off topic right now. "Murgh," groaned Jason, as he wiggled in the sleeping bag with Piper. Piper sighed, she was content, even if it meant she was heading toward her doom. Laying her head on Jason's chest, Piper dozed off listening to his deep breaths.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked! Review!<strong>


	10. X: Piper

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Please guys, only lovedystopian reviewed... Where is everyone? Anyway, I acknowlege that chapter 9 wasn't probably the best... I apologize as it was 11;o'clock that night, and dad was yelling at me to get off, which scrambled me a lot. Thanks to lovedystopian, I've scaled down the romance a bit, and inserted an explanation paragraph on how they've gotten on the quest so suddenly. This is what the reviews are for! So I know if I'm doing okay! So reread chapter 9 if you can, it's still probably not the best, but I tried. This was my first time ever really going in deep romance, so I may have gotten too far off topic, and I apologize. This chapter is much better though, and it's packed with action, hopefully it makes up for last chapter!**

**-lovedystopia, Wow, you must have really been in a bad mood lol. I did take some of your suggestions in mind and adjusted a bit of Chapter 9, so thanks! Piper is a bit harder for me to grasp, as she is emotional, unlike the Greek-Spockness of Annabeth or the lame jokes of Leo. So sorry! Your harsh review hit me like a sledgehammer, over and over with criticism lol. But I do thank you for being honest with me, and that's what I like so much about you. You're honest and review every chapter I do. It lets me know how I'm doing, and how I can improve my writing further. I always look forward to all your reviews! I hope you like this chapter better, it explains ALOT. Not to mention, packed with action ;D. Looking forward to your next review! *Cough put good stuff cough***

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Rick Riordian...**

***I acknowledge the nonexistence of some words in this chapter. **

**So, without further ado...**

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><p><strong>X: Piper<strong>

**Piper wasn't expecting the commotion**. Well, at least that was her thought as she woke up the next morning. Untangling herself from Jason's arms, she pulled on a pair of denim shorts and crawled out of her tent. Rubbing her eyes, Piper walked over to the dockyard pier, and saw Hazel standing there, bending the Mist to her will. Vivid images of horses and other magical creatures danced around Piper's eyes. "Hey Haze," yawned Piper. With a start, Hazel turned around, "Hey Pipes!" she grinned. Flicking her wrist, Hazel dissolved the Mist around her into the breeze. "So, how didja sleep?" Hazel stated. "Ya-gooda-," yodeled Piper, patting Hazel on the back. Well, Piper was sure she slept as well as she could without any crazy monsters chasing after them. Honestly, she was still a little fidgety after all the commotion yesterday. "Beautiful sunrise, huh?" questioned Hazel, watching the sun rise over the horizon. Piper smiled, they were sort of busy avoiding their near-possible deaths to bother watching sunrises lately these days. "Sure is," smiled Piper, turning back to the camp, with Hazel in tow.

Piper saw Lou Ellen tending to the fire, er well, flicking on the electric light on and off. With a drool, she noticed the cinnamon breakfast strudels now laid out on china plates. Why they had china plates on a quest, Piper really didn't know. It probably was best not to ask. "Gooooodd morning ladies!" boomed Jason, stretching out of his tent. Piper groaned, Jason slept like a dead centaur when he wasn't faced with death. "Good morning to you, lightning boy," muttered Lou Ellen, focusing concentration on the lamp in front of her. Snickering, Hazel joined Lou Ellen and Jason at the base of the fire. "Hey Sparky," retorted Piper as she plopped herself on Jason's lap. "So, where do we stand?" asked Hazel. "Well, I suppose we go to Nashville," stated Lou Ellen, "Finding Eris there is a start, at least." "Eris?" questioned Hazel, "Isn't she the goddess of chaos?" A shred of memory ignited in the back of Piper's head, "She started the Trojan War, of course!" "Makes sense then," frowned Jason, "Wanting to start another war."

Piper was confused though. Eris was given tribute at both camps, so why was she rebelling? On the odd hand, however, her temple was the one to blow up first. Surely, that had to be connected somehow? And if that was connected..., then why did several other godly temples explode? Piper was pretty sure by now all this had to be connected, maybe someone was controlling the others? "But what does this have to do with the Fates?" said Jason. Piper had to gulp, there weren't many beings out there controlling multiple gods, and kidnapping old grannies all at the same time. "My guess," butted in Lou Ellen, "This is personal, after all, chaos is running rampart." Piper felt inclined to agree, the revolt of miserable godlings, and the absence of destiny itself was really starting to unnerve some people. Just an hour before Leo showed up, she had to break up a half dozen fights with her charmspeak, and it was just getting worse and worse. In case people hadn't noticed, not many people actually wanted to stop fighting, making charmspeak that much harder.

With a moment of silence, Hazel interrupted, "I don't like this guys, my senses are going off..." "You mean underworld sense?" questioned Piper. Hazel was kind of confusing these days, with Mist sense, underground sense, and whatever. Piper swore she was running through a replica of the labyrinth. "N-no," stuttered Hazel, turning to Lou Ellen, " Lou? Do you feel that?" "What do you-," Lou was cut off, "HAZEL! Watch out!" Hazel was interrupted by Lou Ellen shoving her out of the way. All of a sudden, Piper noticed a dark streak of blackness slam into the ground Hazel was just in. Piper widened her eyes as another shade of black shoot in her direction. She made a move to duck it, but Jason did it first. "Pipes!" he cried, also shoving her out of the way. "Jason!" cried Piper as she saw the shade crash into his chest, sending him backwards into the nearest wall. "NOO!" yelled Hazel, waving her hands, as Mist erupted out of seemingly thin air. With a gape, Piper saw Hazel wave her hands, as thick Mist swirled around the two black blobs, masking them from her sight. "Move! I'll hold them off!" yelled Hazel.

With a cry, Piper pulled Jason back, ignoring his unconscious groans. "MOVE!" yelled Lou. With a battle cry, Lou Ellen unsheathed Diancer, her magical staff, and slammed it into the ground. A pure white bolt of energy smashed into one of the blobs, seemingly erasing it from existence. With a jerk of her head, Piper noticed the shade reappearing. "Gah, those things just won't die!" she thought. Pulling out Razorback, the jagged sword she obtained from Zethes the Boread, Piper charged the shade. All the while, she shuddered at having to remember Zethes. She would NEVER kiss him, nor ever marry him, no way in Hades she would! She was taken, obviosly by a far handsomer, kinder, and unconscious man! Rage filled her, remembering Jason's impact, as Piper swung her sword at the blob. With a gasp of shock, Piper released the handle as a hand shot out, and absorbed her sword. "TAKE THIS!" yelled Lou, sliding under Piper, and throwing a knife. Once again, the shade absorbed the weapon, and vanished. "Keep form!" shouted Hazel, as the three girls stood back to back. "W-what are these things?" stammered Piper. They certainly were never mentioned in Grandpa Tom's old Cherokee stories.

With a rush, more and more shades surrounded Piper, until over a dozen of them were swirling around. "What's the plan?" muttered Hazel. "This!" yelled Lou Ellen, "Est Maeta Landa!" she shouted as a pure ball of blue energy smacked a shadow, blasting it to bits. Piper had to smile, at least something good was coming out of their day so far. Her grin slacked as, you guessed it, the shadow reformed. "OH COME ON!" yelled Piper. "WHY CAN'T WE GET A BREAK?!" shouted Lou. "MOVE BACK!" boomed Hazel. With a mad scramble, Piper dashed as fast as she could, with Hazel and Lou Ellen right on her heels. "Help me-e, with Jason," gasped Piper, as she pulled one of his arms. Hazel grabbed Jason's right arm, dragging him as well as she could. Piper had to groan, why did her fiance have to be so HEAVY! He better not have been eating these twinkies again... For some reason, Jason was crazily obsessed with twinkies. One time, on a dare, he stuffed twenty-four in his mouth. Even for a demigod, Piper found it impressive. Shaking out of her thoughts, she was getting lethargic. Lou Ellen was desperately trying her best, but it wasn't easy fending off unkillable blobs.

In all, Piper felt a sense of irony. First killing a pile of goo that was once a cyclops, and now they were going to die at the hands of blobs. With a gasp, Piper tripped over an steel overlay, sending Lou Ellen and Hazel crashing over her. With a shudder, Piper felt a sense of dread as the shadows approached. "Well, I guess this is it," stifled Lou Ellen. "Oh, Frank!" sobbed Hazel. Piper closed her eyes, preparing for the end. "PATHETIC DEMIGODS," boomed a new voice. Opening her eyes, Piper saw one of the shades morph into a shadow of a person. Twisting and turning, the shade gained the face of Drew, former head of the Aphrodite cabin. "W-what are you doing here?" gasped Piper, fumbling for Katoptris. "FOOLS, WE ARE THE MARDAI, OPPRESSION OF ENEMIES, YOUR HATED NEMESISES!" echoed Drew's voice. "NOW, PREPARE TO DIE!" With a wave of her hand, the fake Drew beckoned the additional waiting Mardai. With a strangle, Hazel pulled out her cavalry sword, and swung it around. "PATHETIC WITCH!" moaned another Mardai, dissolving the sword. Hazel's face went pale, as she struggled for help. Piper knew they were dead, if it wasn't for fake Drew being punched in the face by a god.

"Back off my daughter!" roared Hades, as fake Drew slammed into a wall. Piper's eyes widened as Hades conjured a force-field, and releasing it in a firey inferno. With a wail, half of the Mardai vaporized instantly. With a struggle, Piper got to her feet and raised Katoptris. "Girl!" roared Hades, keep them distracted!" With a nod, and fear of angering the master of death, quite literally, Piper leaped into action. "Duck, drop, dive," she thought as she zoomed past the shades, and unfortunately the ones that were reforming. "GAH! WHY AREN'T THEY OBLIBERATED?" screamed Hades. "Don't ask me lord!" said Piper, ducking past another Mardai. "Yahhh!" yelled Hazel, throwing a small pocketknife at a Mardai watching Hades. "G-WACK!" choked the Mardai, collapsing face-first, and dissolving completely. And this, time, Piper was shocked it STAYED dead. "Hazel! How did you do that?" questioned Piper. "I-I don't know, I just stabbed in the back.. and-,"started Hazel. "Jupiter's underpants!" vented Hades, "It'll only work if they're focusing on someone else!" With a shock, Piper realized the Mardai were nothing more than your greatest nemesis. The only thing they were worth for was bringing out the anger in people, their anger toward their archrivals. But behind their back..., that's where the kill spot was. Well, it was kind of ironic, yet expected, considering you're supposed to technically backstab your archrivals. With the Mardai, it was literal backstabbing.

"Pipes! Watch out!" yelled Lou Ellen, desperately trying to reach her. With surprise, Piper whirled around to face a Mardai charging her. "For N-!" the Mardai was cut short from a blast from Hades. That wretched beast dissolved in a literal pile of black paper. "Great," thought Piper, she might as well jot down her life story while she was at it. Piper's battle instincts were on alert, facing in as much Mardai as she could. Turning to face one of the Mardai, "Mmm, you're so tired, aren't you?" "MMM," agreed the Mardai, it's blobby shape starting to waver. "Why don't you just relax?" soothed Piper. "Re-," as the Mardai was blown into pieces by a well aim blast from Lou Ellen and her trusty Diancer. "Good work Pipes!" shouted Lou. Piper noticed the rest of the Mardai were converging on Hazel, morphing into shapes Piper didn't recognize. She saw the face of Octavian, minus the screaming like a little girl, a face that looked oddly like it could be Hazel's mother, and several others. "GWAHGANN!" bellowed Hades, smashing into the ground, ejecting tendrils of black lightning, vaporizing the remaining Mardai.

With a mad scramble, Piper rushed over to Jason, who was miraculously untouched during the fight. "W-Wha?" he muttered as he opened his eyes. "Uh, Pipes? What happened here?" Piper had to chuckle, Jason always missed everything. "Gee Sparky, you need to stop with the head injuries!" she smirked. "Owch, I need some Advil or something," he groaned. "Can you stand?" questioned Piper. With a shaky nod, Jason hobbled to his feet. Feeling a shiver around her, Piper turned to face the dissolved shadows all whooshing toward a emerging figure. "Ah, Thanatos," muttered Hades as the shadows sucked into a tin can Thanatos opened. "My lord Hades," droned Thanatos striding over to Hades' side. "What was that?!" butted in Lou Ellen. Piper was pretty sure they really wanted to know, after all, they sort of did try to kill them. Meh, it usually happened almost every day anyway. "Spirits of souls, the spawn of wretched night," muttered Thanatos. "This is not good," frowned Hades, "If even the Mardai could escape from their prison, something big's coming..." "Gee, obvious much?" thought Piper. If stupid little prison escapees could attack them, something BETTER be wrong!

"F-father?" stuttered Hazel, inching out of a corner. "Ah, dear daughter," smiled Hades, creeping toward her. If this wasn't so creepy, Piper was sure she would enjoy this father/daughter moment. After all, how often can an all-powerful zombie god pop up to say hello? "Ah joy," thrummed Thanatos, "Touchy-feely ickyness!" Piper was sure Thanatos certainly wouldn't enjoy pink, it certainly wouldn't be his style. In fact, he would probably rather kill, er, okay, that was rather ironic. As Hades hugged Hazel, Piper tried hard not to snicker. Poor Hazel looked out of place hugging a deathly pale god. "B-but, aren't you supposed..?" stammered Hazel. Piper was confused, what was Hazel implying? "Ah, well, for all I know, you could just be projecting from Asphodel after all...," smirked Hades. "And you could just be a image...," smiled Hazel. Piper made a note to ask Hazel just what the.., er, Hades, was going on with this little lovefest here. "You best get moving," droned Thanatos, "I sense more incoming..."

"I agree," stated Hades, "Find Eris in Nashville, and get us that information!" "Lady Artemis has been contacted, her Hunters will shield you," butted in Thanatos. Next to Piper, Jason lit up with a surprise on his face. Piper had to smile, Jason was getting closer with Thalia these days, with the Hunters' more frequent visits and whatnot. And for the first time ever, the Hunters were FINALLY defeated in a round of capture the flag. Score one for Camp Half-Blood! Piper really didn't know how she managed to make five hunters slap themselves, but at least they won. "I'm sure I can-," started Jason. "And absolutely not!" shoved in Hazel, "You're riding on Arion, no buts about it!" Piper shot Jason a sympathetic look, the last time he rid Arion wasn't fun. The poor horse had an aneurysm, bucking Jason off and conking him to the ground. Next to Piper, Lou Ellen's face turned a new shade of green. Piper really didn't know what all the fuss was about, Arion was a sweet horse, at least to her and Hazel. "They're coming NOW! GO!" yelled Thanatos. "We'll cover you up top," stated Hades. With a tweet, Hazel whistled for Arion. Looking on the horizon, Piper saw a stream of vapor kick up, rapidly reaching them. The form of Arion skidded to a halt in front of Hazel, nuzzling her hand.

"Jason, come on!" shouted Piper, nudging him toward Arion. Piper swore the horse's eyes bulged out of his sockets when he saw Jason climbing on his back. "Shh," soothed Hazel, patting Arion's mane. Arion settled down long enough for Piper and Lou Ellen to climb on behind Jason. "We can obscure your progress from the Mardai somewhat," said Thanatos. "Good luck, all of you..." stated Hades, in a deep voice. Piper hoped they could get away, but at the same time, she choked up. Here were two gods holding off the enemy long enough for them to escape. The Mardai must really be that difficult if it really came to that. "Incoming Hades!" boomed Thanatos as Hades lit up his right hand with a swirl of black flame. "GO ARION!" yelled Hazel, spurring him on. Piper felt like she suffered a case of boomburst, her stomach ripped apart with all the food she consumed. "GAHHHHH!" screamed Jason, his face blubbering like a fat baby. As Arion cleared the dockyards, Piper turned back to see the shadows consume the two waiting gods. "Well, to Nashville we go...," she thought.

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><p><strong>You like? REVIEW AND FOLLOW!<strong>


	11. XI: Piper

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**Heyo guys! Apologies for the slightly late chapter. Our hub on my Minecraft Server Network got deleted, because my partner didn't bother to back it up, lol. I had to pitch in to rebuild yesterday. The chapter would've been up then, but that happened. Down to reviews!**

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**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Uncle Rick!**

**Next Update: November 6, 2014, by 10:00 EST**

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><p><strong>XI: Piper<strong>

**Until the ropes flew out**, Piper thought they were doing pretty okay. Besides the fact of Jason screaming like a little girl, Lou Ellen puking, and Hazel hollering, riding Arion was pretty fun. Jason wasn't really scoring any manly points on Piper's scale. With a sigh, Piper shook it off. Taking in the woodsy view, forest after forest zoomed across Piper's eyes. Riding Arion was like one big roller coaster, even screaming and puking was included! "Go! Hyah!" shouted Hazel, spurring Arion on. Piper swore the horse had a crazy look in his eye, but then again, most godly horses were. How Arion was the son of two gods..., Piper really didn't want to know. With a stream of vapor, Arion burst across a distinct river, across a sign Piper could barely flash as "Welcome to Kentucky!" Great, Kentucky, backwoods state. Piper personally didn't have anything against Kentucky, but the dozens of herds of Party Ponies happening to live there sort of dampened the mood. "Shhh," said Piper, soothingly rubbing Jason's back as he continued to scream for his life. If Jason couldn't just keep it down, Piper was going to have to withdraw cuddle time from him! Shame, it was kind of fun having cuddle time. "H-Hazel," chattered Lou Ellen, "Is there an off button on this thing?" "Arion is free! Literally!" yelled Hazel, "He runs like the wind!" Gee, Piper was pretty sure the horse could actually run faster than the wind could.

"WEEEEPH!" chirped an extremely loud alarm. The resonance forced Piper to cover her ears, and Arion halted to a stop. All of a sudden, six ropes snapped up from the ground, tripping up Arion, and pulling him into a tree. "G-ack!" yelled Hazel and Lou Ellen as they were snagged into the trees as well. Piper immediately felt a sense of vertigo, with her vision turning upside down. Jason slammed into the root of a tree, with a welt on his forehead. "Owch," thought Piper, "That HAD to hurt!" "Cut the ropes!" shouted Lou Ellen, fumbling for a knife. Piper reached for Razorback, and felt nothing but empty space. "In the name of Aphrodite...," she muttered. Curse these STUPID Mardai for dissolving her sword! At least Katoptris was safe, and Piper sneaked it out of her short attachment. Flailing Katoptris around, Piper reached for the rope under her ankle. The most she could tell was that they were near some sort of forest clearing. It could be a nice day for a picnic, excluding a conked out son of Zeus, three squirming girls, and an angry horse doing the maraca. Hazel grunted in frustration, and punched the tree closest to her. Piper knew she was angry, her sword was gone. On the bright side, at least none of them were wearing any dresses!

"Demigods?" butted in a new voice. Piper shook her heady wildly, and rested her eyes on a girl with silver eyes emerging from the forest. "Who are you?!" angrily stated Lou Ellen, brandishing her staff. The girl cocked her head. "Dear, you do not recognize me? I am Artemis, goddess of the Hunt!" Piper's eyes widened, so this was Artemis, up close. Sure, Piper had seen her a couple of times, but not really in this situation. "My lady-," started another voice, "Jason, what?!" Piper saw a lean girl, with punk-style clothing and a silver tiara adorning her head rush to Jason's dangling side. Of course, the form of Thalia Grace started tending to her brother's head. Piper grinned mentally, behind all that goth and rough style, Thalia could have a heart of gold sometimes. With a start, Piper realized Thalia would be her future sister in law..., now that could come in handy sometimes! Wait, that was mostly a bad idea after all... "Hunters, release them at once!" stated Artemis, as dozens of girls streamed out of the forest, with knives in hand. Piper thought they could almost pass for a class of cookers, minus the annoyed look on their faces. The Hunters were dressed in silver parkas, even though it was the middle of summer. Snarling wolves drifted by their side, smelling the dangling forms of Hazel and Lou Ellen.

Piper immediately felt her vision spin around as the rope around her ankle was cut. She whirled backwards, landing in the arms of Artemis herself. Piper always imagined it would be the other way around, in the arms of Jason... Okay, this was kind of embarrassing to say the least. "Piper McLean," frowned Artemis, "Why have you plopped yourself in my arms like a newborn child?" Piper groaned, she might as well be a newborn, compared to Artemis' age. Artemis was looking pretty good for a goddess who was..., three-thousand, four-thousand years old? Eh, whatever. With immortals, you REALLY didn't want to know their age. Piper scrambled out of Artemis' arms and plopped down to the ground. Around her, Hazel and Lou Ellen groaned, rubbing their ankles from obvious rope burns. Thalia cradled Jason in her arms on a nearby rock. "Wh-a?" muttered Jason as he drifted into consciousness. "Bro!" yelled Thalia. Jason jerked his head back in shock, slammed against the rock, and passed out again. Piper groaned, Jason's official new nickname was Advil Boy. "Mmm, a quest group of three girls," muttered Artemis, "At least they're doing something right..." Piper heard Artemis was an feminist, but wasn't this taking it slightly a bit too far? "W-what are you doing here?" groaned Hazel, struggling up from the ground.

"We were ordered here by our lady," butted in a girl with black princess curls from the corner. She had pale, milk-colored skin, and emerald eyes. Several herbs were smushed in her hand, as she approached Piper's side. "This is going to sting," muttered the girl. Piper fought back a scream as she applied a paste to her scorched ankle. Great, small girls could be battlefield medics these days, which was slightly ironic in a way Piper was sure she didn't want to talk about. "Lord Hades gave us an info tip," piped in Thalia from the corner, "Said we may run into some surprises!" "And surprise in a way," grumbled Artemis, smoothing her silver parka, "We thought you were monsters." "BWEAATTT!" neighed Arion from the ground, "GEGG! WHINNYEH!" Artemis smiled, "I thought you were better than that old friend!" "HAAAAAAHEH! GEEEEH!" whirred Arion. "That was rude," huffed Artemis. Okay, Piper was sure it wasn't every day that an all-powerful goddess and a cursing horse could understand each other. "Your, er, friend has informed me on your situation," said Artemis, "You best rest at our camp." "Er, and Hazel dear," started Artemis. "Y-yes my lady?" ventured Hazel. "I believe this is yours," smirked Artemis, handing Hazel back her cavalry sword. Hazel's face lit up in happiness. "B-but how?" said Lou Ellen, getting up to her feet, "I thought they were dissolved?" Artemis' silver eyes gazed through Lou Ellen, making her shudder. Piper really didn't want to be on the end of that. "You're asking an eons-old goddess on how she got a simple sword back?" smiled Artemis. "Um, good point my lady," ventured Lou.

Piper exhaled the warm breath of chicken soup. It had only been a simple two-minute trek back to the hunters' camp in the woods. Besides two girls dragging a groaning Jason across the forest floor, things were going dandy. Piper swore the girls giggled every time Jason's head bonked a root or rock. Her heart ached for her fiance, but beggars can't really be choosers anyway. "Hey," croaked Jason, as Piper laid her head on his lap. Jason was holding an ice-pack over his throbbing head. After a couple pills of Advil, he was starting to feel a little bit better. Emphasis on little. "So bro," whatcha been up to?" smirked Thalia, hanging her arm across Jason's other shoulder. Piper was hoping Jason would feel kind of happy right now, being surrounded by the two most important women in his life. Well, an just-shy of adulthood and an eternal maiden, that is. "Besides a pounding headache, pretty okay," groaned Jason. "Mardai are running rampart everywhere," butted in Artemis, as everyone, including Piper, swooped in to listen. "Hades and Thanatos are barely fending them off as it is!" "What are Mardai anyway?" questioned Lou Ellen from a nearby log. "Ancient evils," muttered Artemis, "A spawn from the depths of creation, barely muttered as it is." A girl Piper recognized as Britta leaned forward, "Creation?" she asked. "This is not the time and place to discuss it as of now," stated Artemis. The mood around the campfire darkened, and Piper shivered.

"As I am aware," said Artemis, breaking the silence, "You must go to Nashville, is this correct?" "Yes ma'am," stated Lou Ellen. Artemis crossed her legs, with a deep train of thought forming in her mind. Piper thought it was kind of odd, but then again, immortals usually had very screwed up lives. "While in the city," she frowned, "You must seek out The Shrine of Souls." Piper was confused, she was pretty sure she hadn't heard of that thing before. "What is that?" questioned Hazel, turning her head to face the silvery eyes of Artemis. "A touch, a whisper to the souls below," muttered Artemis, "The Shrine should shed some light on our situation here." Okay, Piper was pretty sure that didn't make any sense, but whatever. It was basically a free clue pass! "You best hurry," stated Artemis, "Beings even I had forgotten, are stirring all over the place..." Piper thought that just had to be great, another ordinary day of having no idea what they were going up against. But hey, it was making her feel better that at least the gods were paying attention, and even interacting, to say the least. "AWK!" screamed in a distant voice. Artemis immediately jerked her head around, and drew her bow. All around Piper, the rest of the fifty hunters gathered also drew theirs. "Go, NOW," growled Artemis. "But didn't we just-," started Jason, standing up gingerly. "Come on Advil Boy, we don't have time for this!" exclaimed Piper, dragging Jason behind her. "Wait, Advil Boy, where did that come from?" questioned Jason.

Piper was sure they could have left by now if it wasn't for Jason's continuing bombardment of questions. "Piper," said Thalia, a look of concern on her face, "Watch him for me, okay?" Piper nodded, Thalia could be really scary when she wanted to be. "Here," said Artemis, handing Piper back Razorback. Well, at least Piper was sure she had her nice and pointy sword back. Razorback could be far handier than Katoptris at times. At least the sword didn't give Piper mirror images of her impeding doom. She just HAD to sneak an image of Katoptris before they left, and the shadows engulfing her weren't excatly reassuring. Piper also really didn't want to mention to Lou Ellen of the image of her dangling off a cliff. Around Piper, the forest shook in a deafening roar. "Positions!" yelled Artemis as the Hunters flanked Piper and the others to the clearing, where Arion was grazing. How Arion could be so calm in the middle of a basic earthquake, Piper didn't know. Well, his father was the god of earthquakes... Okay, that was weird, and really creepy to think about right now. "Arion, come on!" cried Hazel, jerking his saddle. "BLEAAAH!" whined Arion when he eyed a limping Jason again. "Demented horse," muttered Lou Ellen, eyeing Arion carefully. "Shh, she doesn't mean that," muttered Hazel, giving Lou the stink eye. Hey, it was Hazel's horse, so Piper was pretty sure Arion's pampering was at an all-time high.

"My old friend, you know what to do," stated Artemis, gazing at Arion. With a nicker, Arion loaded his passengers on, and Piper was pretty surprised on how calmly he was doing it this time. "AHGHGHGHGH!" roared a voice as a huge, scaly beast ripped in the clearing. Four wings popped from the creature's back, with hooked fangs adorning it's tips. The horrible thing was, it stood on two legs, as a normal human being could. The beast was easily forty-five feet tall, and it was completely bright orange, with the exception of it's wings being gray. It's head was oddly bird-shaped, with pure red eyes. "I-I don't believe it," stammered Artemis. "My lady?" questioned Thalia, aiming her bow. Piper was sure she would like to know, after all, it seemed like it was also trying to kill them. "A-a Kardoni," stammered Artemis, "But they-," she was cut off by the creature smashing his right foot in the place where the goddess previously stood. Piper never heard of Kardoni before, were they supposed to be new? Well, scratch that, really, really old, so much that they were 'claimed' to have been forgotten. "Fire!" yelled Artemis, growing to fifteen feet tall, and somersaulting over the Kardoni. Around Piper's head, fifty arrows flew from various bows, hurtling toward the Kardoni. As they were about to hit, the Kardoni simply disappeared. "Wha-?" said Thalia, obviously confused. Piper really wanted to know how a forty-five feet tall beast could simply disappear. She got her answer when it reappeared five feet from Arion, smashing it's left hand down.

"Teleportation!" cursed Artemis. Piper's eyes widened out of it's sockets. A freaking bright orange beast could teleport?! Okay, that was kind of new, considering she hadn't seen one of those before. With a rush, Arion zoomed around the beast, and Piper felt her stomach was being sucker-punched. "Not again!" yelled Jason, as he gripped the horse's flank. Piper curled her arms around Jason's waist, with Lou Ellen hanging on tight to Hazel at the front. Artemis blasted a bright-white light at the beast, only for it to disappear yet again. "Stupid, little," growled Artemis, brandishing a hunting knife. "Go!" she yelled to the group. Arion swerved directly south, and zoomed straight to Tennessee. Piper was pretty sure her stomach was going to retain that sucker-punch feeling for a couple days. She was also really worried, monsters were attacking wherever they met with gods, and ironically, it was happening in the same sort of situation. Gee, having Olympians around were actually supposed to help, not attract a huge slew of monsters. Okay, Piper wanted to take that back a little bit, with a Happy Time orange beast crying in the distance behind them. The more Piper thought about it, the gods weren't really so bad. After all, three just sort of held off monsters just for them. But if the Olympians couldn't take down beasts like that easily..., then who could?

Reflecting on thoughts while riding Arion was sort of fast, after all, the horse could make it clear across continents in a matter of hours, really. Piper caught a glimpse of the Tennessee River rushing by them. She was sure if Percy were here, he would be focusing on the whole thing the entire way... Piper honestly felt bad for Percy and Annabeth, Tartarus wasn't a good experience for them. She knew that much, being a guidance counselor. The Greeks, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea for her to be a guidance counselor in New Athens. Admittly, she was skeptical at first, but hearing other people's problems kind of settled her a bit. Percy and Annabeth's problems were the worst though, not much could really affect them. They had to resort to other measures just to sleep. Piper wondered how they were doing back home, especially with Leo. Holy Zeus, Leo... For all Piper knew, he was probably still signing autographs right now, congratulating his bad boy McShizzleness. If they got back alive, Piper was going to slap him a couple more times, alright. "You guys alright back there?" questioned Hazel, pulling Piper out of her thoughts. "Besides riding on a bloodthirsty horse, alright!" shouted Lou Ellen, already turning another shade of green. "Arion eats metal!" yelled Hazel, "Not human flesh, that's stupid!" Okay..., riding on a horse with a set of chompers strong enough to eat metal wasn't high on Piper's list, but it was probably their best option at the moment. "How much longer till we get there?" whined Jason. "Mmm, at this speed, fifteen minutes?" Hazel smirked, "Maybe ten," as she kicked Arion further, blasting him even faster. Piper didn't know what they were getting into as the spires of Nashville appeared on the horizon.

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><p><strong>Hope you all enjoyed! I'll be doing contests soon, with winners being sent exclusive one-shots or other material sent by me! Everything will all tie to this series, because, as I said, I want consistency to follow Heroes of Olympus, so everyone can rely on secure stuff.<strong>

**Also, WOOOO YESS, 1ST CHAPTER TO HIT 3000 WORDS, YESSSSSS.**


	12. XII: Piper

**COME ON GUYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Am I not getting your attention or something? LOL. Props to lovedystopia and court for actually reviewing, thank you guys! I have the rest of the story planned out really, and already getting ideas for the next. Been brainstorming the last few days, and have been a bit busy. Remember, I'm making whole five-book series like Rick does. Will throw in a couple one-shots and bonus stuff too to tie in. They'll all be taking place in the same universe, of course! :D. This is the longest Piper chapter so far, and thus ends our time with Piper. I think next POV is going to be something you guys have been looking forward to for a long time. **

**I know that Piper's first chapter needs to be redone... I know it's bad and will get around redoing it sometime, between updates. If anyone wants a chapter sharpen-upper, just let me know.**

**Next Update: November 10, 2014 by 10:00 PM EST.**

**Reviews:**

**-lovedystopia, Thanks again for your review! I enjoy reading them, especially the REALLY, REALLY long ones! I'm sorry it's just so enjoyable reading your reviews, it makes my day indeed! Thanks for the support!**

**-Court, Thanks again! I like it when you're telling me the parts you're laughing at. It lets me know how I'm doing things right. Looking forward to your next review!**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Uncle Rick, aka God of Trolls.**

**So, without further ado... Piper's fanfare! **

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><p><strong>XII: Piper<strong>

**The moaning of ghosts were starting to disturb Piper**. Well, she did think she was hearing some sort of moaning. Arion zipped across a highway in the heart of Nashville. How the Mist was covering this up, Piper didn't know. Four demigods on a godly horse was sort of a page-turner. The skyscrapers towered over Arion, as he zoomed a mile or two outside of downtown. The cars blasting by weren't helping Piper's nerves much. She was pretty sure she would rather prance around a demented Earth Mother than get run over by a truck. "Where are we going?!" yelled Jason. "You tell me!" shot back Hazel. Piper cocked her head, listening to the whispers. "Stop," she flatly said. Pulling back on the reins, Hazel slowed Arion to a trot.

"There," muttered Piper, pointing to a pile of rubble in the distance, surrounded by cranes. Piper wasn't really sure why, but the voices were whispering over that way. "Piper, you sure?" questioned Lou Ellen, looking a little white. Arion nickered, edging ever so closer to the ancient site. Piper really had a bad feeling about this, she couldn't quite stomach it. But they really didn't know where else to go. "This must be the shrine Artemis was talking about," stated Hazel. "But there's nothing here," frowned Jason. Piper had to roll her eyes, Jason sure liked to point out the blatantly obvious. But then again, stuff usually appeared when they least expected it. It was pretty much the norm for demigods these days, Chiron should REALLY put that in the manual.

"Omph," butted in Lou Ellen, as everyone hopped off Arion. "Here ya go," smiled Hazel, as she pulled a chunk of gold out of the ground, stuffing it in Arion's mouth. Piper swore that horse would make a great gold launderer. With a nicker, Arion turned and shot out of the site, heading straight north. Piper thought he was probably going to go play with these Party Ponies. Their word choice was certainly similar. A breeze whipped through the group, getting grits all over Piper's shirt. Hazel coughed, and wiped some dust off her purple t-shirt. "Uh so, what now?" asked Jason. "Well Sparky," muttered Piper, "We look, I guess." "We may need some help," said Hazel, "Lou, mind doing your thing?" Lou Ellen nodded, brandishing Diancer. Piper heard that Diancer had a dark history, once being in the hands of one of the most evil Greek magicians known to man. That really didn't reassure her much as the staff glowed.

"Est Kaeta Lumina!" shouted Lou, casting a white orb of light to the sky. Around Piper, Hazel and Jason unsheathed their swords, leading in front of her. Piper unsheathed Razorback, guarding Lou from behind. She had to admit, her swordplay was getting really good these days, and sparring with Jason was intense. Shaking out of her thoughts, Piper noticed the orb spinning faster and faster, dashing around the rubble like a drunk siesta band. They hired one once last summer for an end-of-the-block party, and it was wild to say the least. Mexicans doing the splits were amusing, and how the Mist masked them was hilarious.

"WEEET!" screeched the orb, causing Piper to cover her ears. Its resonance was eardrum-shattering to her. The ground shook, as the orb descended on a fallen pillar, absorbing itself in the markings. If Gaea was waking again, Piper knew she was going have to slap her enough times to make her lose consciousness again. Thankfully, that wouldn't be happening in pretty much..., well, forever. At least that was the hope, Piper really didn't need another bloodthirsty goddess on their tail. The ruins groaned even more, heaving and shifting. Enough rubble eventually dispersed to make a five-foot wide hole in the ground. Piper stared, they came all this way to a tiny hole Zeus couldn't fit in? Wait, that probably wasn't the best thing to say out loud, unless you needed to be a scorched hole in the ground.

"Uh," started Jason, "This is it?" "Well, in case you hadn't noticed, not every mystical temple has a cool entrance," growled Lou Ellen, strapping her staff on her back. "I'll go in first," muttered Hazel, edging a toe over the hole. Piper really hoped that hole wasn't endless, or Hazel was about to wind up to be a mocha cappuccino. "Well, here I go," gulped Hazel. She leaned down into the hole, and plopped down. "What's down there?" asked Jason. "Not much," replied the muffled voice of Hazel. "Hazel, is there any markings?" questioned Piper, she thought it might be able to clue them in a little. "Uh, there's -GAHHH!" yelled Hazel. "HAZEL!" shouted Lou Ellen, jumping down into the pit.

Piper shared a look with Jason, and with entwined hands, jumped into the pit. Wind whipped in Piper's hair, tussling up her eagle-feather braid, as Jason cushioned them to the ground. In front of Piper, Hazel was laughing at Lou Ellen. "You sure do fall for this," snorted Hazel. "Not... funny..," droned Lou, "You could have been freaking dead for all we care!" "Well, does this look dead to you?" asked Hazel, gesturing to a chamber in front of her. Piper wondered how a chamber like this could fit inside, but then again, they were standing in a one-hundred-foot radius pit. Soft torches lined the circular walls, casting a glow on everyone's faces. Looking up, Piper saw the entrance was about twenty feet above them.

"Wait, Hazel, how did you and Lou survive a twenty feet fall?" asked Piper. Hazel stared at Piper, "Underground is my element, and you're asking?" "Oh, right," stated Piper. She mentally smacked herself. Hazel was impressive underground, especially in the House of Hades. Piper shuddered, that place was creepy as, well, Hades. Jason shuffled forward. "What is that?" he frowned, examining the door in front of them. Piper turned to observe it, basking in the dimly-lit area. "It looks Greek," stuttered Jason, tracing the carvings. Piper noticed that, but there were other symbols adorning the doorway too. With a gasp, she recognized some of them as Roman too, as well as some vague symbols. "Jason, look," she whispered, elbowing him. "Language of magic," drawled Lou, tracing these vague symbols Piper couldn't recognize.

"Entrat El Poeata, Teme Lua," muttered Lou Ellen, mimicking whatever these symbols were supposed to mean. Piper made a mental note to take whatever magic class was back home, so she didn't have to have another Spanish class headache. The pit groaned, as the top of the door-arch glowed blue. "Whoa," breathed Jason, pushing Piper back a little. Piper appreciated the gesture, but she was a big girl, she could take care of herself! "Hmm, I wonder," mused Hazel. "Temarius, Entrat!" she exclaimed, rattling off some Latin signs. The door groaned, it's sides glowing now glowing blue as well. Piper had to think, a magician and a Roman was opening the door, what was missing? "Mmm, of course!" she thought. Greek, Roman, and magician symbols. It all made sense now. People from these sides had to work together to open these doors. Piper felt a strange attraction to the door center, and Greek symbols glowed in front of her. It struck her sharply, its words implanting itself in her brain.

"Δύναμη κατά δύναμη , Open !" she screamed, and the door roared to life. Lou took a few steps back further, and the cavern shook. The door whirred, creaking and clicking. The symbols interconnected with each other, flowing to life like water. "MEP!" chirped the door, revolving open, causing Piper to take a step back. Well, that was probably the first thing Piper felt useful on the quest so far, opening a super-magical door with the abilities of jazz-hands. Lou unstrapped her staff, muttering a spell. The form of Diancer flickered to life, casting a glow in the abyss beyond. "So, who's going first?" nervously chuckled Lou. Piper hoped it wasn't going to be all that bad, plunging in a deep, dark abyss was the least of their worries right now, right?

"Ladies first?" stated Jason, ushering them forward. Piper had to snort, Jason was getting edgy again, she would have to remind him where he came from later. With Jason right behind her, Piper ventured into the darkness, with Lou Ellen and Hazel behind them, each brandishing their respective weapons. "I feel nothing," frowned Hazel, "It's all over the place..." Piper hoped it wasn't anything bad again. But then again, life was usually screwy for demigods, whether they liked it or not. The chances of monsters crashing on their wedding was most likely ninety-percent, with a chance of rain. "Hazel, what about-," started Piper, and proceeded to start screaming as she plunged into a completely vertical tunnel.

It was pretty much the same as skydiving, minus the splatter zone waiting for them at the bottom. "Pipes, hang on!" yelled Jason, gripping her waist. On Jason's free right hand, Lou Ellen and Hazel linked up, also taking the sudden plunge. It was literally a vertical cliff Piper did not see coming. "Brace,-" began Jason, as everyone started hovering. "What the?" questioned Jason, looking confused. "Wait, you didn't do that Sparky?" asked Piper. If Jason didn't do that, then who did? "This is so odd," stated Lou, with frown lines on her face. "Wouldn't this,-" began Hazel, as they were interrupted again. Piper yelled as they plopped down onto the ground.

Scrambling to her feet, Piper observed the new area. Immediately to her right, an small-scale replica of Nashville was present. The amazing thing was, stuff was actually happening in there. Tiny cars were moving, and so were tiny people. "This is immensely weird," said Hazel, brushing off soot from her blue jeans. Piper looked up, again, and saw nothing. It was like the top had gotten sealed, so she had no idea how far they had fallen. If Piper had to guess, they were just marching down the throat of the Earth or something. In front of Piper laid a hallway, with Greek columns supporting a tiled roof on top of them. Roman stones laid on the floor, engraved with sketches. In one of them, Piper recognized Acheolous from the Mediterrean, now that had been a sorry state of a guy. "This isn't right," shakily said Lou Ellen. "Why?" asked Jason.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Roman and Greek architecture from thousands of years ago aren't exactly common...," started Lou, "And they're in the same room!"Piper realized Lou was right, why would they be there when they were once enemies so many years ago? Okay, that question was kind of boring, but it was sort of important. After all, the Romans and Greeks really didn't get together until two years ago, when Gaea exploded in a fiery inferno. At least Piper got the satisfaction of Octavian screaming like a girl from Nico. She was pretty sure she heard cheerings when the augur was declared dead. Eh, Octavian wasn't really going to be missed. Piper secretly hoped his punishment was to run across a field of Legos, barefoot, for ALL ETERNITY.

Looking back and forth, there was nothing behind, or on the sides of Piper. Nothing lay ahead but the hallway, and the voices of ghosts were starting to whisper in her ears again. "It's close, I feel it!" exclaimed Hazel, looking agitated. "Well, when in doubt, we move forward," muttered Lou Ellen, pushing forward and taking charge. "Who made that up?" asked Jason. "I did," grumbled Lou, "Now get moving!" Piper had to give Lou Ellen credit, she had sass when it was needed. Up ahead, a statue of Zeus supported the weight of the roof, just standing at the very edge of the walkway, two-hundred feet from where they landed. "Great, my dad, the eternal workout guy," said Jason, throwing his hands up. Zeus looked pretty buff, and still had that angry look on his face. Piper leaned forward at the base, and surprisingly, English was carved in it.

"A leap of faith, a leap of doom, a leap of power," she stated, reading the words out loud. What in the name of Mother Rhea was that even supposed to mean? "KLAK," rumbled the statue, as it immediately plummeted to the ground. Piper took a step forward, and got shoved back by Jason. "Look," he whispered. Another fifty feet of stones lay forward, and they shifted. "KLA-KA-KLACK-KLA-KLA-KLA!" they chattered, falling into nothing but blackness below them. If stones had feelings, Piper was sure they would kind of be screaming right now. Just great, now a fifty-feet long chasm stood between Piper and a twelve-foot tall door that so conveniently happened to be standing on the other side.

A creaking abyss greeted Piper, looking like it had no end whatsoever. Nothing but disc-sized columns dotted the abyss, teetering and tottering in, well, nothing. Basically, it looked like a Wipeout course, which was supposed to be fun. Unfortunately, the only prize here for wiping out was certain death. Piper mulled over what the words meant, she had to leap out of faith, right? And well, the abyss was sort of doomful too, so that kind of counted. A leap of power? Maybe that meant physical strength? "Wait, Pipes," murmured Jason, pulling her back. "Don't!" he pleaded. "We're going to find out one way or another Sparky," said Piper, gritting her teeth. "After all, you can carry me back up, right?" "That's the problem Piper," butted in Lou, "Nothing's working." Piper whirled around. "You mean to say, no wind, no magic, no nothing?" she cried. "Since when did this happen?" "Since when you were looking at that door," said Hazel, leaning a hand around her waist.

Piper gulped, if she tried this, she would probably end up in the Underworld the hard way. But hey, a girl's gotta live a dangerous life. Plus, if she didn't do it, her friends and fiance would. There was no way in the name of Aphrodite Piper was going to let them attempt it. They were probably more important than she was. With a dash, Piper closed her eyes and jumped for the first disc-column. "Pipes!" screamed Jason, diving for her. Piper opened her eyes, and saw herself balancing on the stone. Hazel sighed, "Thank the gods, take it slow!" Piper dashed yet again, landing on the next stone five feet in front of her. Looking back, Piper noticed Jason looked pale, shaking like crazy.

Piper cleared her mind, and breathed. Three more to go... With a grunt, she leaped again, and again. The door was so close, beckoning in Piper's grasp. Just one last step, and they hopefully would be closer to finding out just what was happening here. "GAH!" yelled Piper, making one last, final leap. Despair filled her as she tripped, plummeting in the abyss below. "Faith, faith," she muttered, grappling onto a ledge. The door was just five feet above her, and Piper pulled herself up, using these rock-climbing skills. She was so thankful she signed up for the extra rock-climbing lessons. With a scramble, Piper inched in front of the door, and slammed a palm on it. It had intriguing mosaics adorning the front, and the arches curved all the way to the top, with two pillars melted right into the stone itself.

"PIPER!" shouted Jason, "ARE YOU OKAY?!" "F-fine," Piper managed to spit out. After all, she was used to near-death experiences far too often. "Stay close!" yelled Lou Ellen, "We'll be right behind you!" The door spun, and Piper shook her hand off of it. In front of her, an antechamber glowed. Piper squealed, she knew this was it. The voices of the spirits were getting intense now, beckoning her in further and further. "You catch up guys!" she said, with a smirk. "Just be careful!" exclaimed Hazel, "We don't know what's in there!" Piper pulled herself in, and looked at the dozen steps beckoning her.

Piper heard the clip-clops of her Nikes as she descended down the stairwell. Oak wood adorned the staircase, leading into a massive room. Pure, white marble covered the entire floor, and Piper had to guess the room itself was at least five-hundred feet wide. Ancient ebony chests were backed up against the wall, shrieking like a demented tiger. With a groan, Piper clutched her ears, as the voices of spirits drowned out. Her head became clear, and she looked around. The room was easily three-hundred feet long, with a MASSIVE shrine at the end of it. Every chest leading up to it rattled, as if something was inside them. A white, birch wood dome was the shrine itself, with a statue of a woman Piper didn't recognize at the top of it. Pure white circles decorated the sides, with rainbow mosaics, once again, showing out scenes.

Piper edged closer, and saw many unfamiliar ones. There was a blob of pitch black glass on one of the mosaics, with yellow glass surrounding it. It almost looked as if the yellow was penetrating the black. With a whip of her head, Piper heard the voices of her friends behind her. "Get-ACK!" said a voice Piper knew as Jason. "Mo-yal!" garbled Hazel. Piper hoped they made it across the abyss alive, hopefully without arguing each other to death. Was that even possible? The wails of voices droned inside the chests, making them rattle even harder. With a start, Piper thought that this must be the Shrine of Souls thingy that Artemis was talking about. It sort of fit the description, with souls muttering around all over the place.

"Welcome!" exclaimed a new voice. Piper jerked around, trying to see where it was coming from. "My dear," the voice seemed to smile, "We've been expecting you!" "W-why?" stuttered out Piper. When people usually expected them, it meant they were usually trying to kill them. With a pop, eleven chests jerked open, releasing many white blobs. They swirled all around Piper's head like a slushy, before merging into one figure six feet from Piper. Tanned arms appeared, and cascading gold curls formed down a head. With a jump, Piper stepped back. The forming figure was obviously a woman, as they seemed to appear to Piper all the time. "Daughter of Aphrodite," murmured the woman, "You've arrived, at last." Piper pulled out Katoptris, pointing it at the woman. Her curls kept shifting from blonde to brown, and she was white, with tans of course. Her eyes were pure gold, boring holes into Piper's soul.

The woman's white and green dress went down to her ankles, shifting as she moved around. "Who are you?!" demanded Piper. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. But then again, the woman could just be a goddess who could just incinerate her with the flick of a finger. "You're very important, of course Piper." drawled the woman, twisting a finger around her curls. Piper had to breathe, that usually didn't end well. "Again, WHO ARE YOU!?" yelled Piper, edging toward the woman. "I am Rhea," smiled the woman, "Mother of Zeus, and you better talk if you want to live through tonight!"

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><p><strong>Like? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!<strong>


	13. XIII: Calypso

**MHAHAHA my Flyers! I am back, with an awesome chapter. I noticed such few of you were commenting on Piper... I was like what the heck?! Come on guys... Doesn't anyone have a love for that? I've worked very hard on this chapter, so I hope you like. The Leo chapters were great success, with 4-5 reviews on each one alone. I'm hoping this chapter with a very specific girl can help bring that back up ;D.**

**Now.. Review Time!**

**-Lovedystopia, Oh thank you for reviewing last chapter! I really thought I was going to have to hunt you down with a tranquilizer or a Mechanical Hound from Fahrenheit 451. It's the book that inspired me to start writing, check it out! It's about a dystopian society where firemen burn books for a living. You reviews make me smile, don't ever leave me for that long! *HISSES!**

**-Court, thanks for your review! I'm really happy that you're keeping up to date with all the updates ;D. I really appreciate your thoughts for me, and I really do strive to continue the quests for the Seven.**

**-Fasiha, Thanks for the question! The quest will be explained as the story goes further. Like I said, the whole book is still a puzzle piece that is not fully assembled yet**

**I've planned the basic structure of how the entire book is going to go now, so you're welcome! It's going to be a long ride, so pull in! I got the feeling some chapters need to be redone though...**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to our special troller, Rick Riordian!**

**Now, without further ado... Oh wait. You may want to read my first one-shot if you want to make some more sense of what happened this chapter. Do not worry, the end of the chapter may be unanswered but it will be answered in the next few chapters, do not worry!**

**GOAL: Hit 35 followers before I post the next chapter!**

***NEXT CHAPTER POST ON Saturday, November 15, by 10:00 PM EST. The reason being is that I am reediting some chapters to make the story better. Also planning out some arcs as well.**

**Without further ado... McShizzle's girlfriend! ;D.**

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><p><strong>XIII: Calypso<strong>

**The honking car horn blasted at Calypso's ears as she ran for the sidewalk**. "Watch out!" yelled Leo, pulling her aside. Calypso frowned, "But, New York is so big..." It was kind of true, considering she was stuck on a tiny island for millenia, which didn't help her sanity much. Apparently, they were standing in some sort of building called the Chrysler Building. It was _soooooo_ big, with pointy spires sticking all over the place. At that moment, Calypso really knew she had missed A LOT. She turned to Leo, "Leo, are you sure this is safe?" "Baby, everything is alright when you're with Leo!" he said, puffing his chest. Calypso had to giggle, Leo could act like a total dork sometimes. Basically, he was a burrito. Funny, hot, and spicy all wrapped up in a pile of deliciousness. Calypso tried one in Mexico once, and it was AWESOME! Sure, she had to gargle water for hours afterward, but it was worth it.

"Hey, you!" shouted a new voice. With that, Leo jumped up, and Calypso had to snort. Facing down evil monsters was less scary than a girly voice to him. Turning around to face the new voice, Calypso frowned at the girl jogging up to her. She looked kind of snobby, in Calypso's mind. The girl had straight honey-blond hair and was wearing this shirt thingy. M-marl-Maroon! That's right. It was SO confusing keeping up with all these 'shirt brands' these days. Honestly, all these humans couldn't seem to make up their mind! With a snarl, Calypso glared at the stupidly, yet endearingly snobby girl. The girl raised to speak, bu faltered under Calypso's withering glare. Calypso had to smile, at last, her glare was finally starting to creep out people. If not, she could pull out that black-belt in kung-fu that she had. Barely muttering something, the blond girl ducked inside the Chrysler Building.

"So, the Dolphin Guy called us?" asked Leo, fumbling for his toolbelt. "Isn't he supposed to be flopping?" "You mean Poseidon," muttered Calypso, bringing up her right finger to rest on Leo's lip. "Want some of that action?" smirked Leo. "Ow!" he yelled when Calypso flicked him on the nose. Leo was SOO vain, but funny all the same. Why Poseidon called them here, Calypso really didn't know. It had been three days since Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Lou Ellen left off for their saving-the-world quest. Calypso had to groan, she had found a new friend with Piper, but cue the jazz hands, and bang. The world apparently wanted to take away the only female friend she had to retain her sanity. Meh, sanity was SO overrated these days, considering Calypso was sort of mortal. Apparently Poseidon had popped in Bunker Nine last night, scaring the living Atlas out of Calypso. She swore if anyone interrupted another moment with her and Leo, she would snap their neck.

_"Noon, Chrysler Building tomorrow," whispered Poseidon. "There is a matter of urgency!"_ That was pretty much the only thing the sea god had said after popping in on Calypso's dance night with Leo. Poseidon hightailed it out of there in a puff of smoke, with a blush or something. Could gods blush? Most likely. Needless to say, Calypso felt pretty stabby herself. The sea god wasn't exactly her most favorite guy, considering she was trapped on a tiny island for a _really, really_ long time. Then there was the matter of Odysseus... The thought was sort of painful, especially with the Valley of Odysseus rubbing in her face like butter. Except for the fact the butter would be vinegar or something. Besides that, Camp Half-Blood and New Athens was pretty cool. It was too bad they were standing in the middle of a roaring, slightly chilling city waiting for a god.

"Hey, Leo, what is that?" questioned Calypso, snapping out of her thoughts. Calypso pointed to a nearby alley with a rustling noise in it. "Ah _chica,_ I've seen these horror movies!" exclaimed Leo, stumbling back. Calypso saw Jack the Ripper on the screen once. Needless to say, every woodland animal ran away from her for two full weeks. "Crybaby," muttered Calypso, with a smirk. "I am the Supreme McShizzle!" boasted Leo, planting his fists on his hips. "Nothing would dare interrupt my glorious awesomeness!" Faster than you could say _Zeus' Underpants, _a shadow streak shot out of the alley, zipped around Leo's waist, and shot back in. "What the?!" exclaimed Leo, as his suspenders snapped apart. Startled, Calypso whipped out her knife, _Glister_, and jerked in the direction of the alley. "What was that?!" jumped Leo, scrambling to cover himself. "Looks like Poseidon' going to have to wait," muttered Calypso, dragging a cursing Leo behind her. Now they were going to have to cross the street, AGAIN!

Normally, a shop or something wouldn't plop themselves in an alley, they were pretty creepy anyhow. But how a door was plastered on the right wall of that dark, creepy place, Calypso didn't know. Peering at the sign, it appeared to say, "Master Ridley's Ye' Tavern." It looked kind of Old English to Calypso, but not that_ old, old_ English. She had to stifle a grunt, the English language was changing too much! "Hang on!" cried Leo, "I'm still de-pantsed!" "Oh Leo!" laughed Calypso, clutching her sides. Leo was apparently fixing his suspenders, which were dangling around his ankles. With a grunt, Leo stretched them up, and readjusted them. "No one depants Leo and gets away with it!" he growled. "Calypso, we're crashing in there! Watch your Chuck Norris!" as Leo pulled out a four-pound hammer. "Ready when you are, Valdez," smiled Calypso, whirling her knife.

"Flame on!" yelled Leo, crashing through the wooden door with his hammer. Calypso followed suit, somersaulting over Leo, rolling and tucking down on the floor. With a cry, the duo pulled their battle stance. What Calypso didn't expect seeing were a bunch of dudes standing around a bar, with muzak music playing in the distance. The floor creaked and cracked, obviously made of flimsy oak wood posts. At least the bar top had some granite around it, not like it would do much. The odd thing was, the half dozen dudes standing around it weren't exactly human. They turned around to face Calypso, and she had to think _yikes!_ They had four arms on their torso, and eerily yellow skin. Their matted hair were dirty brown, falling down to their shoulders. Around the room, which was easily forty feet by forty feet, cloaked figures sat around various tables. "Can I help you?" grunted a new voice, and a ten-foot tall man walked out of some sort of kitchen.

"Name's Ridley," grumbled the pale-faced man. At least he was sort of normal, except for these creepy reptile eyes. "Have a drink!" Calypso was about to protest, when Leo _just had_ to butt in. "Well, well, thanks for the hospitality!" boomed Leo, "The Valdezenator at your service!" With that, Leo swaggered over to a bar-stool and plopped himself down. Calypso swore she saw these cloaked figures shuffle uneasily. "Aren't you young or something kid?" grunted one of the yellow dudes. Leo huffed, "Nothing is young enough for the supremacy of Leo!" Calypso groaned, Leo was REALLY getting on her nerves right now. Of course she loved him, but still. "One dragon meade!" said Leo, pounding his fist on the counter. _Oh..._, this was not going to end up well. Leo and alcohol did NOT mix well. This was why Calypso tended to avoid taking Leo to bars, barring the occasional party. "One meade," grumbled the man who apparently was Ridley, "Bottoms up!" Calypso plopped on the bar-stool next to Leo, "Leo, are you sure you should be doing that?"

"Everything's all good _chica_," muttered Leo, gulping down the beer. "So, little miss," grumbled Ridley, "What brings ye here?" "Destiny or something," grumbled Calypso. "-ey, didja hear about these demigods?" whispered the group of yellow men, to each other. Calypso leaned in to listen, "They'll ain't never make it to -son -ity alive!" Putting on a seducing smile, "Whatcha talking about boys?" asked Calypso, fluttering her eyes. "Ah, we was just talking about em demigods who escaped that Mardai!" yelled one guy. He was then rudely slapped by another, "SHUTTYAP!" Calypso's eyes widened, she remembered Piper sending a brief Iris message about them just a while ago. Apparently they were staying at the camp of the Hunters or something. "Mah! That was GOOD!" belched Leo, setting down his beer. Calypso was really starting to get nervous with these cloaked figure thingies watching their every move. She knew something was really, really off at this point.

"Uh, Leo," started Calypso, turning to face her boyfriend. "Doesn't-," she started, widening her eyes. "Leo, you're hot!" she exclaimed. "Baby, I'm always hot!" grinned Leo. "Uh no," muttered Calypso, "You're _LITERALLY_ hot, you're on fire!" "Wha?!" exclaimed Leo, seeing himself completely on fire..., again. "Get that outta my shop!" roared Ridley, pulling his kirtle away. "I know how to fix it!" yelled Leo. He ran over to another mug of beer, and lifted it up. "NO, LEO!" shouted Calypso, "YOU'RE MAKING IT-!" She was then interrupted by Leo pouring it all over herself. "GAK!" jumped Leo, as the one-foot radius of pure fire around him exploded to ten feet long, vaporizing the yellow men. "YOU IDIOT!" screamed Calypso, "YOU'VE MADE IT WORSE! ALCOHOL SPREADS FIRE!" Needless to say, the roof of the tavern collapsed entirely. "AHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" shrieked Leo, rolling all over the floor. "Get er over there!" yelled Ridley, throwing a bucket of water over Leo. Needless to say, he grunted the whole way down as he was extinguished.

"NOW, KILL THEM!" roared Ridley. The cloaks behind Calypso whirled away to reveal nothing but..., a shadowy blob. Okay, that had to have been really anti-climatic. With a grunt, Calypso grabbed a beer bottle and chucked it at the blob-thingies. Shockingly enough, a hand reached out to dissolve it. Calypso jerked toward Leo. "Run?" she asked. "Run," Leo agreed solemnly. "NAHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Leo, bolting out of the door, Calypso tailing him. Calypso could vaguely hear the whooshing sounds of shadows trailing them as they bolted out of the alley, back into the roaring streets of New York. Panting, Calypso made a beeline for the Chrysler Building, at least they could have a god who would blast them to ashes. "BESIDES MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND, WHY IS MY LIFE SO SUCK-TASTIC!" screamed Leo, which Calypso was sure anyone within a full mile radius could hear.

Calypso didn't expect to collide into that snobby girl from earlier either. "ACK!" she grunted out, as she whammed into that Maroon girl. With a grunt, "Get out of the way!" she grunted. Clutching _Glister_ to her side, Calypso was immediately alert for any threats. Next to her, Leo pulled out his hammer. Calypso shoved the blonde girl aside, turning to face her. "You might as well get arrested for that!" shouted the blonde girl. Calypso paled, focusing on the girl's eyes. "What are you seeing?!" demanded Calypso, clutching her knife. "Uh, Calypso," butted in Leo, "Isn't this-!" "Shut up Leo!" screamed Calypso. She REALLY didn't have time for this, with bloodthirsty shadows all over her Titanly butt. "B-but!" stammered Leo, "Behind ya!" Calypso faced the direction Leo was pointing his face toward, and her heart sank. The shadow blob whirled around the block, barreling straight for her. "Thundering Zeus," muttered Calypso. Being mortal was screwed up! Turning around to face the girl, "RUN, NOW!" yelled Calypso, pronouncing it as well as she could. Hearing a yell, Calypso saw Leo throw his hammer at the shadow streak.

But hey, the STUPID thing just had to dissolve the hammer too! It was like a freaking Godzilla or something, only smaller! And dark, and nothing like..., well, okay. The people walking around Calypso elected a surprised mutter, backing away from her. "Isn't that-," muttered one man. "That's a-!" started another. Calypso really had to gulp, were they seeing something they weren't supposed to? _Oh Atlas_, please not now. "This is really bad," gulped Calypso. Looking around, she realized that stupid blond girl was gone or something. Well, good riddance! With a whirl, the shadow materialized in front of them. Calypso's face grew pale, and she dropped her knife. In front of her, the shadow materialized into Odysseus himself. "PATHETIC GIRL," he smiled. "H-how," Calypso stammered, her legs turning to jelly. "Calypso!" yelled Leo, reaching out for her. At least Leo made a good pillow or something. "A SHADOW SHALL FALL UPON YOU ALL, PREPARE FOR-," Odysseus was cut off by a green blast, exploding him into shredded paper.

What Calypso wasn't expecting was the jostling form of Poseidon in a green bellhop uniform. "Mardai, Mardai, Mardai!" he exclaimed, dashing up to Calypso. "Trouble, trouble! Run, Run, Run!" Poseidon jiggled in his plump uniform, streaking past Calypso's shocked face. "Calypso, come on!" pleaded Leo, pulling Calypso up to her feet. Shaking her thoughts off, Calypso ran after the already retreating form of Poseidon. "Po-Poseidon," gasped Calypso, struggling to catch up to him. "No time!" he yelled, "Just run!" "You're a god! Can't you teleport?" panted Leo. "HEY! Someone stop them!" yelled one of the men in the retreating crowd. Just great, now they were being chased by an angry mob. Not exactly the number one thing on Calypso's bucket list. "Here!" yelled Poseidon, gesturing to a nearby fountain. Calypso noticed Poseidon was carrying some sort of package, not really big at all. Wasn't that Hermes' job or something?

With a yell, Poseidon pulled water out of the fountain, enveloping Calypso in a breeze. "WA!" she choked, as her vision went upside-down, and all she could see was a fast-moving water tunnel. Whirling back into vision, Calypso winced as her head slammed into the base of the Athena Parthenos. "Yack!" grunted Leo, skidding to a stop two feet from her. Whirling around, Calypso noticed they were back in New Athens, in front of the shrine of the Athena Parthenos. "T-total anarchy," gasped Poseidon, leaning down on his legs to take a breather. Snapping off the package from his arms, Calypso got a glimpse of what it was. It looked sort of like a jewel, except the fact it was cloud-colored. It burned solidly bright, giving off an odd smell. "Alice..., gave me this!?" roared Poseidon, "How is that even supposed to help?" Calypso didn't know who the heck Alice was, but she decided to stay out of it.

"Hey! Leo!" shouted the guy named Frank, jogging up the steps of the shrine. Calypso groaned, another friend of Leo's! "Frank," muttered Poseidon, "Give this to Chiron, NOW!" "Uh, yes sir?" stammered Frank, gathering up the jewel and bolting out of the shrine area. Well, at least that was brief. Calypso remembered talking to Frank a couple of times, he was pretty nice. Modest too, if you ask her. With a whirlwind, Calypso realized she probably did more in the last thirty minutes than any normal mortal would do for weeks. Ah, the life of being a immortal-turned-mortal. "Ahh, that felt good, blasting that Odysseus look-alike," muttered Poseidon, "Does wonders on stress!" Calypso wondered just what the living Mother Rhea that was all about. "We have a situation," grumbled Poseidon, "Meeting, now!" "Gee, you think?!" thought Calypso. First, Leo had to be an idiot and throw alcohol on himself, and the fact that living versions of her past lovers were trying to kill her. And the thingy about shadows falling on them... It sort of sounded pretty doomful to her.

Jogging down the steps of the Athenian Shrine, Calypso headed straight for the _agora_, where they would most probably be meeting, again. Ah, what the heck, they were going to meet there anyway. Screw meeting place suggestions! Tightening her denim shorts, and Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, Calypso took in a breath of fresh air. Ahh, it was good getting away from her locked prison. Leo and the others were somewhere behind her, goofing off or something. With Leo, it was always the case. Passing _Cafe Marila,_ Calypso remembered her talk with Piper right before she left for her quest with that Jason dude. _"W-will you watch him?" stammered Piper, "I'm_ _just worried for him..." Calypso had to plant a reassuring smile on Piper's face. "He's Leo, Pipes," Calypso smiled, "After all, he's pretty dorky! Piper snorted at that. Calypso would never forget the promise she made Piper, not ever. Not about protecting Leo, but something else she never wanted to_ _hear._ Moving along, Calypso shook the memory out of her head. Hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that. Walking toward the_ agora_, Calypso really hoped she could find some answers.

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><p><strong>Ahh, I hope you liked! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!<strong>


	14. XIV: Calypso

**REMEMBER TO REVIEW AND FOLLOW ME!**

**Hey guys! Stik is back here with another chapter! I've been reediting some of the older chapters, and the first one with Annabeth has been redone/edited. I beefed up all the paragraphs with some support sentences and added a few new paragraphs. Chapters 2-4 and 9 will also be redone at some point. **

**Check out the new book cover! I got one to demonstrate ;D. I also replaced ONE word in the summary, and it hints at what is coming, so look for that word and pay close attention.**

**Review Time!**

**-Lovedystopia, As always, thanks for the amazing review! I enjoy that you enjoy my terminology, and some more of that is coming up ;D. Do you like minecraft? You should attempt to try it out sometime! OR/AS releases in 6 days over here as of November 15! And yes, drunk Leo is horrifying. I had that crazy idea in school a day before writing that chapter, and I had to do it. Any sane writer would put something like that in there ;D. Yeah..., Calypso's gone through alot, and this chapter will deal with it some more.**

**-Court, Thanks for the review! It is much appreciated. Yeah, Calypso's exs are all over the place indeed. Find out this chapter ;D.**

**-For my Guest, thanks for the review! First off, they're demigods, they're sort of supposed to be in constant threat of death all the time xD. It wouldn't be Heroes of Olympus without constant screaming by monsters, but your thought is appreciated. This chapter has no threat of death whatsoever, so rest easy ;D.**

**This is a very, very deep chapter by Calypso BTW. It reflects alot on what's going on these days. Less humor, but there will be far more in future chapters ;D.**

**Also, in my final plan for the first book... It will have... 72 CHAPTERS! Yup, you heard right ;D. Lots and lots of stuff coming up ;D. Working out a title for the last four books for this series. Also started planning the NEXT series after this. Rest easy guys, I'm here to stay ;D.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Uncle Rick, who I will beat up for not continuing the series! WHY UNCLE RICK, WHYYY! (just joking xD)**

***I acknowledge the non-existence of some words..., these are the minds of demigods after all!**

**Updates:**

**-Chapter 15 by Thursday, November 20, by 10:00 PM EST**

**-Chapter 16 by Saturday, November 22, by 10:00 PM EST**

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><p><strong>XIV: Calypso<strong>

**The arm-wrestling match was amusing Calypso**. It was kind of fun watching Reyna take down that Butch guy from the Iris Cabin. What was even more amusing was the fact that the Romans were mingling with the Greeks. Calypso sort of knew that the Romans were ordered to stay in New Athens until the whole debacle blew over. Just an hour after Poseidon called a meeting, the _agora_ was packed with, well, just about everybody. After all, when an all-powerful blowy-uppy god calls you, you BETTER come! "Hey Cal, pass me the seventh wheel!" shouted Leo, from a corner. Calypso had to sigh, "Leo, I thought we discussed this, you're not a seventh wheel!" "Uh, no, literally, pass me the seventh wheel!" exclaimed Leo, who was apparently making a toy truck or something. Calypso had to sigh, Leo was a kid at heart, and she was going to put up with it, even if it killed her.

"Again, I apologize for ANOTHER meeting," muttered Poseidon, as he strolled in the _agora._ Everyone quieted, and turned their attention on the sea god. The thought of the sea made Calypso feel, well, seasick. It wasn't her favorite thing. "I promise you, no more meetings after this!" "Swear on the River Styx!" yelled someone from the crowd. Poseidon frowned, "Okay, maybe one or two!" Everyone groaned, including Calypso. She really hated corporal meetings like this. She would far rather go stick some knives in the necks of some monsters than endure this torture. "As of this time, the other gods are busy, so you're stuck with me!" stated Poseidon. Silence chirped across the crowd, and Calypso wasn't surprised. Well, this sort of made it kind of awkward, considering it would usually be Zeus or something. Well, at least this god could actually control his temper tantrums.

"Ahem," cleared Poseidon, rubbing the back of his neck. "Frank, pull it forward." Calypso, Leo, and just about everyone else turned to face a red-faced Frank stepping forward, clutching the cloudy gem. Calypso had to wonder, what could possibly spook Poseidon to hightail it out of the Chrysler Building with a tail between his legs? Basically, she thought it would be more of his own mother lecturing him, but whatever. That still was better than Leo boasting about his awesomeness. Seriously, her idiotic boyfriend lit himself on fire with alcohol, that was one of his best face-palming moments. "This gem," interrupted Poseidon, "Is an ancient relic." With a wave of his sass-inducing hand, Poseidon swirled the gem out of Frank's palms, drifting it around the watchful eyes of the gathered crowd. Calypso knew it was ancient, she could tell that much, it probably predated her. Yes, Calypso was sure she could see that, she was still descended from Titans after all.

"Alice Masters, one of our human spies, retrieved this," murmured Poseidon, capturing the attention of the crowd. "Nothing much is known, besides the fact it can make a big boom." He sighed, "Zeus knows, we lost enough good nymphs to that." Calypso groaned, oh joy, another boom-stick weapon. Didn't the last one go well enough to warrant the effort? Scratch that, Ares was probably involved in anything boom-worthy anyway. "Wait," butted in the voice of Annabeth, which made Calypso's teeth grit. "Since when did you people have human spies?" "Since forever," said Poseidon. Annabeth shrugged, and leaned back in the arms of Percy..., grah! Calypso still could feel a twang of bitterness, and it didn't come from that salt-shaker she licked a while ago. Sure, she had Leo, but the fact Annabeth was around still stung. She did feel some regret over cursing her though, especially after she had fallen into Tartarus for Percy.

Okay, Calypso was sure she had to give Annabeth some credit there. Their brief talk earlier was sorta awkward, having her ex-crush and said ex-crush's girlfriend there. All that ran through Calypso's mind as Poseidon continued hovering the gem around in silence. "Hey, are you okay?" asked Leo, poking her shoulder. "Do you need to bask in the shining light of Leo?" Calypso had to snort there, giving Leo credit for forcing laughs out of her. She still had to wonder how in the name of Atlas Leo was still putting up with all this. He sort of stated he wasn't exactly comfortable returning to all this... It was even worse than that time in France when he attempted the technicality of the Eiffel Tower. Needless to say, all of Paris mysteriously suffered a random blackout that lasted for at least a good week. Calypso knew he was still hiding something, and she would find out what. She remembered that talk with Leo, one year ago.

_"They'll hate me," muttered Leo, with tears in his eyes. "Leo, you don't know that," reassured Calypso, patting his back. It was just another day riding on a fire-breathing, jingling dragon, minus the gaping stares of mortals, probably thinking it was an F-16 Tempest or something. "There's too much at stake too," sniffled Leo, "That maraca voice told me!" "What voice?" asked Calypso. "In my dreams, every night, threatening revenge!" shot back Leo. Calypso stared with gaping eyes, Leo wasn't one to be this serious, not to mention she was having the dream too. In fact, just about any other rogue demigod they had come across were having the same dream too. All over the place, South Africa, Spain, Timbuktu, you name it. On the bright side, she did learn how Peter Piper pickled a peck of Peckled Peppers! Something big was coming, Calypso was sure of_ _it._

Flashing back into reality, Calypso barely missed the rest of Poseidon's speech. Honestly, the gods were STILL so predictable, even after all these millenia. "Deducing from Athena's library archives," started Poseidon, "We have concluded that this gem fell to the Earth itself eons ago, from the roots of the sky itself." Calypso swore she heard something about cursing Athena's libraries under Poseidon's breath. "All I know, Zeus had no part in this, so this is mystifying," sighed Poseidon. Calypso had a hunch on what it might have been at first, but no..., that was crossed out. The only other possibility was an impossibility. _He_, or it, was too far gone to even whisper back in the realm of consciousness. But if _He_, or _they_ were coming, that would be an impossible battle to win. No, that couldn't happen, it was too much, Calypso knew.

"Where did you find that gem?" asked that guy, Frank. To Calypso, he looked really, really tall, and kind of chubby too, with this really cute Canadian Baby Man face.  
>"And that's where we come in," began a voice Calypso knew shouldn't be here. In the middle of the<em> agora<em>, a rainbow materialized, and swirled and swiped until it formed the basis of an Iris Message. "Jason!" cried Annabeth, waving her hand. Calypso remembered the son of Zeus, er, Jupiter, from a few days ago. He was Piper's fiance, if Calypso was correct. Either way, Jason's face appeared in the Iris Message. "Uh hey guys," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Piper's kind of busy, so I'm, uh, filling in for her." "Anyway, that gem we're talking about here came from Mother Rhea!" "Wait, Rhea?" cried Percy. Poseidon's eyes widened, "Oh insipid mother..." Calypso had to smirk there, now Poseidon was getting one-upped from his own mother.

Apparently Rhea was pretty willing to give up her little possession or something, since she passed it on to Piper, who passed it on to a chain of messengers leading all the way back to Alice Masters. Well, that's the short version Jason gave them. "-And, in essence," began Jason, "She says it isn't the best idea to go poking around where we're not wanted." Poseidon threw his hands up in the air, "CURSE YOU MOTHER!" In that moment, he swore, did a backflip, summoning two dolphins in sequence, and dissipating out of sight. "YES, TEN POINTS!" screamed Percy, pumping up his fist. "Shut up," groaned a really, really creepy goth, uh, e-emo guy in the corner, who was clutching a gauntlet or something. "Victory is mine!" cackled Leo, and Calypso punched him in the arm, shutting him up. Annabeth did the same, making Percy whimper.

Jason seemed to awkwardly rub his hands, realizing that he was now the center of attention. "Uh, look at the time, Piper needs me, bye!" With a swish of his hand, he dissolved the message, and the_ agora_ descended into awkward silence. Calypso did a silent groan, Poseidon was wimp enough to run away from his own mother, leaving them all hanging. Speaking of which, where was the-, oh there it was! The gem was sitting on top of a poor, unconscious Frank. "Trauma ward!" shouted Annabeth, as a medical team rushed in, carrying a stretcher. Calypso swore people, for some odd reason, were having more head injuries every day, especially since Frank passed out when he saw Leo for the first time, again. There was this blond guy at the head, dragging Frank out. Calypso saw the weird emo guy wave and smile at that blond guy. Maybe they were really good friends?

"Uh, so," started Percy, breaking the silence. "I uh, suppose we find out what we're facing here?" Everyone muttered and shrugged, sort of agreeing-ish. Honestly, this totally stunk, sticking around, waiting and waiting for something to happen. Jason, Piper and the others were having all the fun! Calypso heard that after the Giant War, the three-person quest thing got thrown out of the trash bag. Well, it sort of made sense, considering it took seven people to defeat a crazy, bloodthirsty Earth Mother who just so happened to be Calypso's grandmother. Yeah, it's a small world out there. Ironic considering Gaea was, well, the world. Until she got KA-BOOMED by a quarter-mile explosion! Calypso wished she was there to see that, and throw rotten tomatoes on her grandmother's face. "Everyone needs to split up into groups!" stated Annabeth, "Investigate at your own free will, the sooner we find out what's happening here, the sooner we can get this over with!"

Great, Calypso knew she was going to have to go do some CSI investigating or something. She knew it was some sort of crime-show thingy. "Wanna be on my team?" grinned Leo, turning toward Calypso. "I was on your team for a long, long time Leo," snorted Calypso, tickling his nose. "YES, Team Leo is alive!" yelled Leo, jumping in the air like a demented elf drinking one cappuccino of hot chocolate too many. "I have one thing in mind Leo," began Calypso, starting to frown. Leo's grin faded, "What is it Cal?" Calypso knew what she was about to say was dangerous, but there wasn't really another option if they wanted to find out what was happening here. One of the most dangerous places on the planet was about to get just a tad bit more dangerous. Their only hope might actually lie in what Calypso was hoping to find there.

"Leo, get Festus ready," started Calypso, "We leave in two days' time!" Leo saluted, "SIR, YES SIR!" Calypso was interrupted by Leo swooping her off her feet, and giving her a chaste kiss. Calypso felt a little giddy, and dazed. Leo was stronger than he looked; Calypso hoped others would take her word for it. "LEO!" howled Calypso, as Leo dropped her on the ground, and hightailed it out of the _agora_. "Uh, well that was awkward," started Annabeth, walking past Calypso, with Percy in tow. Calypso growled, that stupid Annabeth girl should really, really stay out of it! Brushing off her short thingies, Calypso scrambled off the ground as everyone broke off in their own groups, off to who knows what the Atlas where. Calypso had to admit some of these shorts were really comfortable, though she did enjoy still wearing dresses from time to time. At least you can stuff weapons in shorts, Calypso had enough experience with that. Her Glock .22 millimeter Magnum was still in her back holster.

Calypso felt pukey, being chased for her life most of the morning. Maybe being the equivalent of a demigod wasn't the most fun idea in the entire world. Shaking it off, she ducked in the nearest cafe on the street. Maybe a cup of coffee would de-stressify her a little bit. Calypso noticed the cafe was structured off oak wood, with shades of frilly pink adorning the sides. The sign said Cafe _Silena_-something. It sounded like a pretty name to Calypso, though it did seem sort of French to her too. Shoving through the glass door as the bell rang, Calypso noticed half-a-dozen tables strewed around, with romantic music playing. Just great, a cafe for horny couples or something, but whatever. Calypso was going to get a cup of coffee, even if it killed her. Slamming some golden drachmas on the counter, and barely muttering her order to a brown-haired man, Calypso sat down.

Glimpsing out of a window, Calypso saw a spear. That spear..., it reminded her of all these years ago, at the beginning of the war itself. _"And he ripped Ouranos himself, scattering him across the world!" roared Atlas, shaking his spear. A young Calypso gleamed with pride at her father. "And what happened next?" she questioned, crossing her legs. "The Titans came to rule, and so we shall!" boomed Atlas. "The opposition of the gods will be punished! What hope do they have against our forces?" The young Calypso stared at awe at her father, he could do anything! Surely that insurgent Zeus wouldn't be stupid enough to attack her father, commander of the Titan army? Especially as his brothers ripped the being of Ouranos himself! No, the Titans would win this! Calypso swore to help any way she could, for victory!_

Shaking out of her thoughts, Calypso had to laugh bitterly. Oh, how wrong she was. Seeing her father in a new light all these years later disturbed her, albeit she still honored and respected him. Now there he was, holding the weight of the world itself, bearing the crushing weight of the sky. Calypso did have to admit the gods were still better, but not by much. Sure, their flings with mortals were commendable, but their efforts were so rare. The gods seemed to have problems seeing how the human race could really be, compared to their _'oh so powerful'_ mightiness. Calypso was still old by human standards, whether she liked it or not. She was certainly old enough to remember the very thing she was looking for; the said thing having something of tremendous power that could turn out to be very, very important anyhow.

The brown-haired man plopped a cup of coffee next to Calypso and smiled. "Hey, do you-," began the man. Calypso waved him off, "I'm taken, plus I'm easily over three-thousand years old, you don't stand a chance." The man paled, and muttered an apology, stalking off. Calypso smiled, she enjoyed scaring the living Atlas out of anyone who had an average mortal lifespan. The crowd earlier today scared Calypso for once though, they certainly weren't scared. It was almost as if they could actually see what was going on, which would be impossible, right? After all, not that many clear-sighted mortals would be in one place, it was literally impossible. Gah, Mother Rhea, threats, and swirling enemies were taking over Calypso's mind right now. She was sure she never had that much going on for at least two-millenia. Well, probably not ever.

The spear was just laying around on a pillar outside, but Calypso knew it wasn't the actual spear. She would know the spear of her father on sight, though the markings were similar. Brandishing it off, Calypso knew that Leo was her family now. He came for her when no one else would, making her smile and lift her up. Granted, he was stupidly annoying at times, but made up for it with his chivalry, er, jokesterness. Riding on a totally awesome bronze dragon wasn't bad on her list either, it was pretty fun in general. The world was sweet too, but it had changed_ so much._ Calypso felt so sorry for the gods, they would never experience the chance of being mortal. They would be doomed living for all eternity, never knowing what it really meant to be human. It drove them crazy, Calypso knew. It was obvious in their erratic and brash personalities.

Sometimes, the price of immortality wasn't really worth it. After all, all things end, Calypso could feel it. Nothing would ever truly last forever, though the memories and times would always there. Great, now she was getting really, really cheesy. Taking another sip of her coffee, Calypso planned for the trip. Granted it would be long, dangerous, and sluggish, but she hoped the end result would be worth it. First off, she was probably going to need that Frank guy again..., he seemed useful, especially since Calypso found out that he could shapeshift. She didn't know about many of these, but Frank had a unique ability. He really shouldn't waste that, as it was usually a gift reserved for immortals. The blood of Pylos flew through his veins. Calypso had heard Frank didn't get along with Leo at first, and she giggled. Who would? Leo was brash to anyone who first met him, though he did deserve some slapping. Stifling a groan, Calypso wondered how the next few days were going to play out.

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><p><strong>Like? REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!<strong>


	15. XV: Calypso

**Hey guys! Gotta post this quick due to deadline! I'll talk more about my daily happenings in the next chapter ;D (Literally posted 3 mins before due date)**

**Reviews:**

**-Court, good to hear the laughs, keep 'em coming!**

**-LoveDystopia, Thanks for the long review again! Much appreciated, and I enjoy reading your random thoughts. Good to know you were suffering from feels, that was the reason I put it there. OR/AS comes out TOMORROW FOR ME! Going to hop on over and get my own copy ;D.**

**-Hippodog, Thanks for the reviews! It seems that you're new to this story, so welcome! Thanks for telling me what your own thoughts were when reading, it allows me to know what's going on in someone's perspective!  
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**-percyjacksonismy8, I am a very dedicated guy. Expect many chapter updates to be posted over my winter break next month. Literally, 2 and a half weeks of doing absolutely nothing, buried in snow. I will so easily be able to do a chapter or two every day then. I'm dedicated to this fandom, and willing to do whatever it takes to stick with ya guys! I'm here to stay, you ain't getting rid of me all that easy ;D.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus belongs to Uncle Rick.**

***Yes, some words do not exist, again, mind of demigods here.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>XV: Calypso<strong>

**Calypso hated the smell of burning flesh**. That was her first thought when the coffee dunked all over her arms. Just great, it probably wasn't the best idea to balance her coffee as she was trying to open the door. Calypso barely stifled a scream; her nerves were far more attuned now that she was mortal. What also really got on her nerves was that fat, jolly man known as 'Santa Claus'. She honestly didn't know why mortals chose to worship the red man, who obviously had one cookie too many. Calypso groaned as she hopped back and forth on the pavement in front of the coffee shop. "Hey, Calypso!" said a new voice. Calypso turned to see a waving Reyna jogging over to her side. "Pluto's pauldrons, what happened to you?" cursed Reyna, as she attempted to rub some coffee off of Calypso. Calypso shivered with relief as that hot liquid was finally freed from her arms. Stupid mortals and their coffee!

Well, at least Reyna was here, she was a good friend at least. Calypso admired Reyna's battle ferociousness, and the two became quick friends. "You nearly gave me a heart attack there," muttered Reyna, composing herself. "Reyna, afraid of coffee?" mockingly gasped Calypso. "Shut it," grumbled Reyna, smoothing out her praetor's cape. "Three-thousand years of experience tells me otherwise," smirked Calypso. "Three-thousand years of _schist_ is what it is," shot back Reyna. "I was just going out for a coffee, but uh...," she trailed. Calypso groaned, of course it had to happen just literally. "Weren't you going to do something with your Legion or something?" asked Calypso. "Eh, I'll let them have their fun," shrugged Reyna. "Though, I do need someone to check on Camp Jupiter or something," she added. Calypso felt empowered with an idea to help Reyna out there.

"You know, I was just going out there soon," started Calypso. "Well, more like somewhere near the general area." Reyna looked confused. "Why?" she asked. Calypso stroked her chin. There was something especially special near the Bay Area she really, really had to go to to get some answers. Well, not like _'bathroom'_ had to go, but more like desperately wanted to go. Mother of Atlas, her twisters were really getting wrapped up. Nothing good could probably come out of whatever Calypso was needing to do, but it could help the cause. Atlas forbid she was going to have to face yet more screwy stuff in her life. It was almost as bad as trying these grape pits one time, but not as bad as a Mariachi band. Calypso shuddered at the thought of that music, she really needed soap right now. "Hm, you could send one of yours to check with us," suggested Calypso.

Calypso wasn't looking forward to what she was going to have to face. But unfortunately, _He_ would probably be the one to provide the answers she needed. On the plus side, she supposed _He_ was pretty much incapacitated at the moment. Calypso had to grin, this could turn out to be far better than she had expected. "Hey, Calypso, you okay?" asked Reyna, snapping her fingers. Calypso's heart ached out for Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arenallo. She too had her own share of heartbreaks. Especially by none other than Percy Jackson, and Calypso was absolutely sure that she wanted to slap him later. In fact, she made a mental note to do that later."Shouldn't you be finding Leo or something?" questioned Reyna, "The sooner you get a move on, the better." Calypso breathed through her nose, "Now, if I can find that idiot..."

"Calypso," said Reyna, "He's always going to be an idiot, don't forget that." Calypso smirked, Leo wasn't always the best at things, especially when his stupidity showed up. With a grunt, Calypso pulled out a glass-faced device with a blinking dot on the middle. It appeared that the tracking mechanism seemed to be pointing northwest. Reyna gaped, "What is that?" "It's my Leo-Tracker," smugly replied Calypso. "Due to his idiotness and lack of directions, I made this to find him wherever he goes!" "Uh, doesn't that seem, I don't know, stalkerish?" asked Reyna. "For someone like Leo, no," said Calypso. Reyna shrugged in agreement, and glimpsed at the device. "It's cloaked with magic and a few circuit-bypasses to avoid detection by the general populace," droned Calypso. Reyna poked at it, "That seems technologically advanced, even for you." "Eh, Leo taught me a few things," shrugged Calypso.

Reyna blinked, "So this is now the cliche, _let's go find Leo_?" Calypso nodded, "Precisely, my dear Watson." "Since when did you do an impressionist of Sherlock Holmes?" frowned Reyna. Calypso coughed, "A couple hundred years, maybe?" She wasn't sure when she got the first Sherlock Holmes book from Hermes or something, but she was pretty sure it was sometime in the eighteen-hundred time area. The signal pointed in the general area of Camp Half-Blood. Of course, Leo was most likely in the forges with the others or something, it had been a while. "Reyna, you coming with?" inquired Calypso. Reyna shrugged, "I got nothing better to do, sure!" The girls walked off, heading out of the streets of New Athens. It had just occurred to Calypso that New Athens was slightly more crowded than she had originally thought, especially with the several stories tall buildings clustered around various plazas. Dozens of people were easily milling about the streets.

A ten-foot wide arch greeted Calypso at the very edge of New Athens. "I've always admired this, to say the least," stated Reyna, gesturing to the valley that lay just beyond this. The screaming of about ten people reached Calypso's ears and Reyna reached for the pommel of her sword. "Jupiter's bolt, what the...," she began. Half of the valley had several small bonfires scattered all over the place. "Praetor!" boomed a new voice. Calypso recognized the form of Scott, that guy who blew up the flare, run toward Reyna. "Is it normal for a fire-breathing, mechanical dragon to burn half the valley?!" he screamed. His tanned, white skin was flushed red, and his brown hair was frayed in every way. Calypso and Reyna both shared a knowing look. _Yup, fire-breathing dragon this way equals a very, very stupid Leo. This isn't going to be good..._

"Praetor, I demand it be incarcerated at once!" demanded Scott. Reyna waved her arm, "Scott, Festus is merely friendly, this is his way of saying hello." Calypso had to agree, the bronze dragon had ways of showing his lack of emotional apparition. "B-but," spluttered Scott, "First, the flare, now this!" "Smack it up solider, or it's cleanup duty for a week!" growled Reyna, clutching her cavalry sword now. Scott barely muttered some words under his breath, wanting to avoid his praetor's wrath. With a casual nod, he strode off across the plain, grumbling the entire way. "Sometimes, I'll never get that strange, strange boy," muttered Reyna. Calypso felt the same, considering he picked up a live flare. Whoever let him in the Roman camp couldn't have had the brightest of minds. Wait, it was most probably Octavian, scratch that. At least what Calypso heard about that little idiot was the fact he died.

"GRAK!" roared a familiar voice that had to make Calypso smile. The few people near Reyna and Calypso scrambled for cover as a certain bronze dragon floated down from the sky. The roar of Festus penetrated the air as he landed on the ground with a hiss. Shaking his mane, the bronze dragon nuzzled Calypso's stomach. Chuckling, Calypso pulled out a bottle of Tabasco sauce and poured it down Festus' maw. Next to her, Reyna shook her head in amazement. "Leo really did this?" she asked, admiring Festus. Calypso nodded with a grin, Festus was a very, very special boy. He was sort of a puppy, all cute and loyal. But then again, most puppies aren't a huge, bronze fire-breathing dragon capable of toasting every house withing a full mile radius. Festus' improvements were a whirlwind to Calypso, especially for some of the most intricate of his upgrades.

Calypso tapped on Festus' armor plating with her delicate fingers, spelling out Morse code. It wasn't hard learning how to do it, especially with Leo's hands guiding her. Sometimes, she swore the dragon enjoyed her company more than Leo, which was probably true. The little elf just didn't have the tender hands that Festus enjoyed. The machine-guns equipped in a storage containment on Festus' back was super-insane, firing at a rate of sixty bullets per second. On the bright side, the world was free of one-hundred less annoying harpies! A casual tune played out of Festus' radio, a sound Calypso recognized as the Beach Boys. Reyna turned her head to the side, with a puzzled look on her face. "Isn't that the-," she began. Calypso nodded, Festus had this obsessive penchant for the Beach Boys, jamming up the airwaves with it. Other than that, he proved to be the most loyal of companions, especially on that day...

_The disturbance of venti were getting far worse. At least the name was easier to remember than the Greek term or something. Calypso's heart raced as Festus shot across the night sky, his wings deployed in battle-mode. In front of her, Leo perched on the driving seat, a determined look on his face as he urged Festus on. The attacks were getting extremely random. Sometimes stopping for a full month, and starting back up again. The wind spirits were getting restless, Calypso could tell that much. It was nuts trying to out-shake them, considering they were sort of in the air. The click of a button resonated as Leo activated the rear cannons, deploying directly behind Calypso. Calypso clutched her ears as the sixty bullets per second firing began. Venti screeched and shrieked as they were ripped over and over by the constant firing of the turrets._

_Sometimes, Calypso wasn't sure how this was going to play out. After Gaea's defeat, she was sure things were going to settle down. Gaea was among the last line of primordials, destined to tie into the Earth. Now, as the howling screams of venti reached her ears, Calypso snuggled further into the waist of Leo. After all this craziness, she was pretty sure it was time to settle down a bit. The monster attacks were unnerving her, and it certainly wasn't from the .55 millimeter Glock tucked under the direct compartment. With a howl, the screeching settled down as the guns retracted back into their compartment. Calypso noticed Leo was muttering to himself, looking ghastly. Since that talk about the dreams not long ago, the son of Hephaestus looked slightly more ill. What possibly could be at work here, Calypso didn't know. It was inevitable that something else was coming. But no, she couldn't tell Leo, not_ yet.

Okay, WOW, that was a time warp. Calypso shook these thoughts out of her mind with a dazed look on her face. These remembrances into the past were getting absolutely crazy, with another apocalypse happening or something. Reyna nudged Calypso's elbow, "Shouldn't we get a move on?" Calypso groaned, that was probably the second or third time Reyna said that today, she really needed to start paying attention. Stepping on the trail leading through the accursed valley of _her-ex-who-will-not-be-named,_ Calypso turned toward Reyna. '"So, Rey, anyone special?" Reyna nearly tripped over a stone and landed on the pommel of her sword. "W-what?" she spluttered, with confusion all over her face. Calypso sighed, "Face it Rey, we need you get you a boyfriend or something." "Don't call me that!" growled Reyna, dusting off her blue cut-off shorts. The fashion statement of a praetor's robe with blue shorts weren't the best, but whatever. Calypso estimated that it was about a hundred meters from where they started walking from the arch.

Festus saddled up to Calypso's side, humming softly from his vents. "I am perfectly fine Cal," boldly said Reyna, holding her head up high. Calypso tsk tsked, watching Reyna's gaze. Calypso wasn't an Aphrodite girl, but Reyna obviously needed something in her life. No offense or anything, but she probably cried over a tub of ice-cream every time someone rejected her. Calypso knew that happened to herself, when the last couple guys left her island. It was, erm, a joy, NOT! In the name of Atlas, Calypso was going to help her new-found best friend out! Now, just to find a handsome, dashing guy who would be willing to get beat up by the praetor of New Rome. Hmm, perhaps someone with a mostly small ego? "As I was saying...," droned Reyna, "I really do suggest you take Frank with you to the city, he has some of the praetor access codes."

"Well, I was meaning to take Frank," began Calypso. Reyna stopped once more on the gravel path, next to a grove of trees in the valley. "And you're saying this because...," she began. "Frank's gift is sorely underestimated," stated Calypso. "His shape-shifting is detrimental to the task I need him for..." "Mind asking me why you're talking like a creepy old soothsayer?" blinked Reyna. Calypso casually shrugged, "Three-thousand years does a lot to somebody." Out of the corner of her eye, Calypso saw the outskirts of Camp Half-Blood on the horizon, with the Golden Fleece shimmering in the sunlight. With a roar, Festus bolted past Calypso and barreled into Peleus, keeper of the Fleece. Reyna chuckled and she saw the two dragons roughhouse with each other, and Calypso had to do the same. Festus was overly enthusiastic to say the least, having another fire-resistant playmate.

Calypso felt like a new camper, entering out of the valley and climbing up the slope of Half-Blood Hill. Now behind her, Peleus and Festus thumped and crashed on the ground, wrestling with each other. Calypso honestly thought they were competing to win the title of _World's Best Dragon._ Reyna sighed, "A handful aren't they?" Calypso had to agree, at least she wasn't responsible for babysitting them. Facing a couple _cyclopes_ would be better than getting trampled underfoot by caffeinated-crazed dragons. "D-Dakota?" stammered Reyna as Calypso gazed at the foot of Thalia's pine. Laid against the base was a drunk Roman legionnaire, with a red-stained mouth. "Looks like your legionnaires have been busy," muttered Calypso. "You have no idea," groaned Reyna, "Being with Greeks for too long makes 'em go wacko." With a gasp, Calypso laid a hand on Reyna's shoulder. "Rey, you don't mean that!"

"Eh, well, you know what I mean," grumbled Reyna. Calypso smirked, "I know, I was joking." "At this point, I'm going to stab myself," muttered Reyna, starting to storm down the hill. Calypso chuckled again, and took off after the praetor. The buildings of Camp Half-Blood caught Calypso's eye. The cabins of the camp fanned around in various omegas. Calypso counted at least four different omegas, each having cabins filled in its shape. They were joined together by four marble streets, arraying in a detrimental arc. Walking across the common green of the camp brought a wave of nostalgia upon Calypso. Pulling out her tracker, it pointed where she thought it would be, the forges. "Looks like you were right Cal," spoke Reyna, "Flame-Boy is in there alright." "I told you he would be," huffed Calypso, opening the intricate, metal door. The door whirred and clicked as she entered the forges of Hephaestus' children.

Calypso didn't expect seeing Leo hanging upside-down from the ceiling with a rope attached to his right leg. What was more unexpected was the frantic children of Hephaestus sawing the rope, trying to get Leo down. Taking a quick glance around the forge, Calypso saw A LOT of traps and weapons streamed around the various steel tables littering the room. A iron forge belched smoke in the center, drifting off to a gap in the ceiling. Next to Calypso, Reyna slowly clapped. "Valdez has done it once more, ladies and gentlemen," she smirked. Leo crossed his arms, which was weird upside-down, "Nobody does it but Leo!" Calypso snorted there, it was sort of stupidish. A small Hephaestus kid, maybe ten-years old, pried through the rope and sent Leo flying to the ground. With a sharp _crack_, Leo's head thunked on the ground. Calypso winced, that HAD to hurt.

With a wince, Leo rolled over to his side. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it is done, LEO STYLE!" "You mean_ Leo Fail_," corrected Calypso, pulling the son of Hephaestus to his feet. "What in the name of Bellona's Bashers were you doing?" asked Reyna. Leo gestured to the campers behind him, "I was merely demonstrating the awesomeness of my return, in the form of a rope trap!" "The awesomeness of your fail?" questioned Reyna, pointing an accusing finger at Leo. The campers behind him broke into snickers of laughter. "Dear Reyna," sighed Leo, "My general awesomeness is too much for you to behold, blinding you eyes!" "This very rope trap is a form of capture, weaseling out even the most daft harpy!"

Calypso swore Leo looked a little cross-eyed, probably still dazed from his fall just moments ago. "Leo, you need to rest, and Festus is acting up with Peleus, _again_!" Leo sighed, "Not again!" "Alright," he turned to the campers, "My awesomeness is for another day, please leave!" Leo gestured with a shooing motion out of the door. With a grumble, the campers dispersed. As the door shut, Reyna and Calypso turned to Leo. If Calypso was going to tell Leo the plan, now was the time. The idea was in her mind when she was sitting in the coffee shop, but now was the time. "There's a plan, Leo," began Calypso. The son of Hephaestus hefted up a hammer, gazed at Calypso, and said the very words she wanted to hear. "I'm game, what's up?"

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><p><strong>Like? Review, Review, Review!<strong>


	16. XVI: Calypso

***December 12, 2014 Update: Hey all! I know I've been absent for a while... Just know this fanfic is NOT being absent. The reason for the lack of updates is that my Christmas break is coming up. I've been planning for a long, long time on what to type over break. So, expect a chapter nearly every single day in the 2 1/2 weeks that I am off ;D. In all, I hope to get 10-15 chapters, within that range, done over break. It starts on the 19th, next week, so stay tuned for that!**

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><p><strong>Hey guys! My network, Behemoth Network, has been going well, so I'm quite busy at this point! Like I said, I'm still generating rather frequent updates (biweekly it would seem), so expect that! Come Christmas, I will have alot of free time on my hands to create more chapters. Have fun reading!<strong>

**Again, thank you guys for supporting this story... WE HIT 50 REVIEWS, WOOOOOHOOO YUSSSS. I plan to do something special once we hit milestones I will post on further chapters. Enjoy the read!**

**Now... for the reviews!**

**-Guest, Thanks for the review! Good to hear you're liking this story!**

**-Court, Thanks for the review! Good to see you laughing at some of these parts. After all, there is humor mixed in with the story ;D. And yes, there will be Percy chapters eventually. The reason why he hasn't popped up yet is because I'm saving him for last... The best for last, after all.**

**-LoveDystopia, Ah yes, thank you for the amazing review yet again. I have news... I got Omega Ruby yesterday! Holy cow, it exceeds all expectations. Hoenn in 3D is amazing. I've just beaten Wattson at Mauville. They've made Mauville the definite Capital of Hoenn now, and changed the entire city into a indoor mall... wow. It's amazing to say the least, and ties in with Luminose City in Kalos. Anyway, yeah the Calypso chapters are establishing chapters, and it does help advance the story alot. More flashbacks for you for this chapter ;D. Also, this chapter is the legendary Percy/Calypso confrontation... Just the two of them. *Cackle, enjoy!***

**-BadMonkey, Thanks for the review! You compliment me ;D. And don't you mean Will and Nico...? XD. Eh, we'll see, considering on how things go and my belief on things. I don't want to delve too much considering it's going to create biased opinions, but there will be chapters having Nico work with Will in one of the later books though. And thanks, I will continue being awesome ;D.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus belongs to Mr. Rick Riordian, our little troller.**

**Without further ado... enjoy Calypso's final chapter! The showdown... Calypso v. Percy!**

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><p><strong>XVI: Calypso<strong>

**The spontaneous combustion of Leo's hair did little to reassure Calypso. ** The son of Hephaestus looked like he just slapped a puppy in the face. "So, basically what you're saying is this, you're going to stare down your sorry state of a father?" growled Leo. Next to Calypso, Reyna shuffled nervously. Leo was definitely smoking now, in the literal form of hotness. Calypso did have to admit that her idea wasn't the best out there. But considering that no one else had some good leads, her father was the best bet. Now Calypso could grill him for some information, considering that he was trapped under the groaning weight of the sky. If anyone alive could shed some light on this mysterious 'threat', Atlas could. Calypso wasn't that stupid to realize that the Age of the Titans had garnered many threats, especially not just by the gods. Besides, Calypso grinned at the thought of grilling her father for information.

"So," started Leo, "You're taking my awesomeness for another super-dangerous quest?" "Yup, pretty much," nodded Calypso. "With luck, it shouldn't be too difficult though." Well, Calypso hoped it wasn't going to be too difficult. But then again, demigod life was kind of screwy. That, and mortal-ish Titans. Calypso turned to Reyna, "What are your thoughts Rey?" Reyna shrugged, and sat herself on top of one of the worktables. "Good luck with that," she mentioned, grabbing onto a water bottle nearby, and sipping on it. Besides taking the occasional glance at Leo, Reyna was acting pretty casually. In all, Calypso thought that Reyna was taking it pretty well, considering she was looking at someone who was thought to be dead. A fire-burning Latino falling from the sky couldn't have been good for the nerves of just..., well, about everyone. Calypso wouldn't be surprised if Reyna had a heart attack on the way.

With a grunt, Leo whipped a notepad from one of his back pockets, and pulled out a pencil. "Hmm, what we need, what we need," he muttered. Reyna raised her hand, swinging her legs from the table, "A bigger brain?" That comment made Calypso snicker, and caused Leo to gasp. "Are..., are you insulting my intelligence?" gasped Leo, placing his right hand on his heart. "Yes, yes I am," bluntly stated Reyna, twirling the water bottle around. Leo dropped his pencil, and jabbed a finger at Reyna. "Now here,-" he started. Calypso stepped forward, and pushed Leo back. "Leo, this is no time to be fighting," she growled. "Ah, fine _chica_," grumbled Leo, waving a hand away and plopping himself in a corner. Calypso was slightly taken aback by this, Leo wasn't usually like this. Well, he should be making some sort of joke right now, but he was probably stressed out.

The door to the forges slammed open, making Calypso and Leo jump. Reyna still sat on the table, unfazed by all this. The person who walked through the door made Calypso's heart twist and turn in, well, heartbreak. The form of Percy Jackson, with his windswept black hair, sea-green eyes, and tanned skin entered the doorway, carrying a curved decor of bronze. "Uh, Leo," wheezed Percy, "A little help here?" In the corner of her eye, Calypso saw Leo's eyes narrow down to a narrow slit. "Uh, sure...," casually drawled Leo, throwing down his notepad too. Calypso felt the room go awkwardly silent, minus Reyna tapping a bottle, and the grunts of the boys lugging in the large sheet of bronze. The thought of Percy Jackson in the room made her blood boil, her head pound, and not to mention a few other things. Percy looked sweaty, to say the least.

"Uh, Festus was having some problems or something," groaned Percy, releasing the bronze armor onto the floor. "His wing or something is molting." "Also, Annabeth sent me to discuss a few things," he also added. Calypso's brain nearly short-circuited, since when did Percy talk professionally like that? Usually he seemed to be the Kelp-Head that other people called him. "Um, so," started Percy, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "So what?" asked Reyna, jumping down from the table she was perched on, "Cat got your tongue?" "Well, that did happen once," stated Percy. Calypso looked confused, and was about to ask. "Don't ask," said Percy, hopping from one foot to the other. "Y'know, you could have helped more," panted Leo, collapsing on the floor. Percy looked confused, "But you carried only like a third of the weight..."

"So, what's up Perce?" asked the son of Hephaestus. Calypso's gazed followed to a folder that Percy pulled out from his jacket pocket. It looked dusty, and kind of old-looking. "Annabeth dug this up from one of her library archives, it had some information regarding these shadow thingies," explained Percy. Calypso snatched the folder from Percy's right hand, and browsed its contents. Pictures upon pictures of these creepy blob things that Calypso had encountered earlier decorated both sides of the file. Dates and names of sightings were decked on a couple of lists, clipped to the pictures. How the freaking Atlas people were able to compile this sort of information, Calypso didn't know. "Uh, there was another sort of thing," mentioned Percy, starting to look a little pale. Reyna jerked her head to look at Percy's face, "Mind explaining what _other_ thing we're talking about here?"

"Uh, when me and Annabeth," began Percy. "Annabeth and I," corrected Calypso, feeling irritated. Percy's face reddened slightly, "Er, right, anyway, when we were down in _that place_, the stuff looks really, really familiar." Calypso's gaze rested on Percy's now trembling face, looking a bit constricted. Leo motioned for Percy to continue, while still gripping the bronze plating. "There was this Mansion of Night thing, and, well, shadow-thingies were all over that place." Calypso instantly knew what Percy was talking about, down in that place where no sane being should ever be going. "Uh, anyway," continued Percy, rubbing his hands, "There's the possible idea of Nyx rising or something considering she likes all these shadow thingies?" "Wait, Nyx?" gaped Reyna, taking a few steps toward Percy. Leo raised his hand, "Hey, as much as I like doomful, yet bloodthirsty shadows, who's Nyx?"

Calypso resisted the urge to facepalm herself right now. Fortunately, Reyna did that for her. "You really don't pay attention, don't you Leo?" she grumbled. "Hey, it's not my fault if teachers can't muster the strength to teach the blinding light that is Leo!" he exclaimed. To Calypso's right, Percy blinked awkwardly. "Basically, Nyx is the personification of night itself, explained Reyna, "Any level-headed praetor would know that." Leo stammered nervously, "Uh so we're fighting night itself or something? Won't it be hard poking her or what?" "Nyx is one of the most ancient primordials born out of Chaos itself, of course it's going to be hard," sarcastically added Reyna. "She-she's not easy," muttered Percy, who looked like he was going to faint any moment. "There's no definite proof of that," stated Reyna, pacing back and forth across the room irritatingly.

Calypso resisted the urge to laugh at the others right now. When were these foolhardy mortals going to realize a deception when they saw it? If Nyx was coming, there would certainly be a far different sign indicating that. Most likely, these creatures were just borrowed from Night herself to lead everyone astray. Being three-thousand years old did help Calypso in a way, she could see things that others couldn't. Stories from her father, The Age of the Titans itself, swirled through her mind. Calypso knew things the gods themselves didn't, and this was a case of it. Indications were always there for the waking of ancients, and this _WAS NOT_ Nyx, Calypso knew that. Tsk, mortals really did fall for too many clever traps. Whoever this enemy was, he or she knew how to get around detection. It certainly reminded Calypso of the time_ It_ got away. Gazing at Leo, she remembered his shuddering dreams, giving her a clue as to what their enemy might be.

_Running through the jungles of Brazil was really irritating Calypso. She didn't know why she convinced Leo to stop here, most likely because she was insane. Calypso could smell the scent in the breeze, following its trail. She was following up on the dreams everyone was STILL having. Leo was getting slightly worse, and didn't seem to be looking much better. Festus did all he could, but comforting the son of Hephaestus was not an easy task. Calypso had to sigh, their world vacation would have to be put on hold until she could find whatever it is that she needed to find. The venti attack the other day, easily repelled by Festus' machine guns, was unnerving. While they weren't TOO attack-ish whenever the world was silent, this was taking a notch up the attacking scale. The disturbance of wind spirits were very odd, appearing one month, and stopping another day._

_Holding nothing but Glister, Calypso stopped in a small clearing. The __whiff of the wind surrounded Calypso, alerting her to the presence of nearby venti. "Calypso...," whispered a voice. Calypso really thought it was a bad idea leaving Leo along the coast with Festus now. She certainly would have liked the bronze dragon as backup. Shrugging the voice off, Calypso broke into a even faster run, teetering on the edge of a gnarled root. Holy Atlas..., this was really starting to get unnerving. But then again, Calypso was sure exotic places were kind of fun. At least she knew why Leo described some of her features as coffee now... Finally, the break Calypso was looking for came ahead. A stone face one-hundred feet from her came into view. Slowing down to a walk, Calypso gazed upon its features. A small chink in the ground laid in front of Calypso. The very chink she was looking for..._

_With a yell, Calypso stabbed Glister into the chink, electing a groaning rumble from the ground beneath her. Looking directly into the face, Calypso shouted out the following commands: "Omega, Atlas Five-One, Authorization, Sixty-Six!" With a rumble, the face collapsed on itself, revealing a small altar. If anyone else was with Calypso, she would consider it anti-climatic for them. A small vial rested on top of a small stone, bubbling and churning. The liquid inside the vial was pure black, and looked absolutely NASTY. But Calypso really didn't care all that much, it was going to help Leo. The vial itself easily fit inside the palm of her hand, its cool touch electing a shudder through Calypso. With a huff, Calypso grabbed the vial from its place, and turned back into the jungle. Getting Leo cured with the help of the vial was essential, and was the only thing on Calypso's_ _mind._

"WOW," thought Calypso. That was quite possibly one of her longest flashbacks yet. Shaking back into the land of reality, Calypso noticed Leo and Percy talking in hushed silence. Reyna stared at the floor, lost in thought. "It's not Nyx," blurted out Calypso, making the others turn to her. "What do you mean it's not Nyx?" frowned Reyna, looking even more agitated. Percy rubbed his head, "But-, we're sure it has something to do with it..." Calypso had to snort, "And that's where you're wrong!" "I know enough about things to know what happens and what doesn't, and this isn't her." "Calypso mentioned talking to her father to get some answers or something," piped up Leo, stroking his chin. Calypso swore if Leo was trying to grow a beard, she was going to slap him. "What?!" shouted Percy, "Your pathetic state of a father?!"

Fury raged in Calypso as she slapped Percy across his left cheek. Leo and Reyna's eyes shot up in surprise, and they took ten steps back. They were easily trembling, most likely because this just became a cage-bull showdown. Percy stumbled back, and landed on one of the workshop tables. "What was that for?!" exclaimed Percy, clutching his throbbing cheek. "You may say many things about my father, but pathetic is not one of them," growled Calypso. While she didn't condone her father's actions, part of her still held him in regard. And by Atlas himself, she wasn't going to let some demigod get away with that insult. "And you," growled Calypso, dealing a swift punch to Percy's stomach, "Need to learn some _freaking_ manners!" "Well, there's something wrong with him anyway, he tried to kill me!" yelled Percy. Calypso felt her vision get red-hot.

As Calypso swerved for another punch, Percy's calloused hands caught her own. Leo and Reyna remained frozen, watching this back-and-forth tennis match. "Well, Perseus Jackson, there should be something wrong with you," growled Calypso. "Whoa, there's no need to get hasty here!" exclaimed Percy, obviously struggling to get out of Calypso's reach. "Well, for starters, YOU LEFT ME ON A FREAKING ISLAND!" screamed Calypso, backhand-slapping Percy on his other cheek. "Sure, Leo is my love here, but still!" "Yes! I am the best-," started Leo. Calypso and Percy both glared at him, "SHUT UP!" The son of Hephaestus shrank back onto the floor, terrified of their banter. Even Reyna looked frightened, which was really, really new. "Hey, I just assumed!" shouted Percy, starting to look really mad. "The gods promised!" "Yeah well, YOU DIDN'T FOLLOW UP ON THE CHECKUP!" boomed Calypso, reaching for a metal rod.

_Calypso's heart broke as she saw the raft leave on the horizon. It was always the same every time, hero after hero leaving her, in pursuit for something else. The green-eyed boy was among the kindest of them so far, forcing her to sob. She cursed this island, and cursed the gods. Forever to be her prison, and the source of her heartbreak, Calypso felt despair. Even her father wouldn't condone this punishment for her, the gods were cruel indeed. Eternity on a endless island, just because she supported the Titans in the war. Wasn't there a second chance? Parole? The Olympians must be bitterly cruel like this, leaving her to rot, alone. Percy Jackson was now drifting on the horizon, back to his home, back to that girl... Oh, there was always a girl, Calypso knew. Blast these rotten gods, BLAST THEM TO TARTARUS! CURSE THIS ETERNITY!_

Calypso was shocked that she had a flashback that fast. In the moment of uncertainty, Percy saw an opportunity and pinned her to the ground. Calypso gave a grunt of pain as she slammed into the concrete floor, her legs being pinned down by Percy's own. "CALYPSO, I'M SORRY, CALM DOWN!" vented Percy, struggling for breath. Calypso grunted in anger, and collapsed. Percy rolled over, allowing her to get up. Leo and Reyna were still in place, paralyzed from fear. Calypso really couldn't blame them that much, she didn't vent out in rage like this often. No, she couldn't dwell on the past, it was too much. She had Leo now, the funny and charismatic son of Hephaestus. Calypso swore, at that moment, she would move on. "I'm sorry," grumbled Calypso. "I was, er, thinking too much. Are you okay?" Percy nodded, "I've been through worse, I guess. And uh, I'm kind of sorry, I guess I didn't see things your way much..."

"Um, friends?" asked Calypso. "Friends," agreed Percy, reaching out for an awkward hug. Calypso obliged, smelling Percy's sea scent. In her heart, Calypso knew she had to get over it. No use living in sorrow and heartbreak, it's time to move to the future. In a way, Calypso was happy that this fight occurred, at least she got it out of her system. "Uh, uh," gasped Reyna, at a loss for words. "Well, that was in-te-rest-ing," pronounced Leo, jumping up and brushing his suspenders. "I suppose you're okay-ish now?" Breaking apart, Calypso nodded. "Actually, I do have an idea!" "What idea?" asked Percy, looking confused. "Y'know that gem-thingy that Mother Rhea forked over?" The three people surrounding Calypso nodded. "There's this Titan magic thingy I know, it's sort of able to mask out a signature." "What do you mean?" asked Leo, scrunching his head. "Basically, what it does is discern the nature of a being."

"Okay, I'm lost here," started Leo, gesturing to himself. Calypso sighed, it was SO hard trying to explain ancient magic to people who've only lived for a decade or two. "Powerful beings leave trails, okay? This spell sort of tells us what kind of trail it is. It's not going to really tell us what it is, but more like a general overview," emphasized Calypso, taking it as slowly as she could. "I sort of understand," said Reyna, stroking her hair-braid. "Wait," began Percy, "Where's the gem thingy?" Calypso stared at him with a ticked-off glare, "You mean to tell me you have no idea where the gem is?!" "Well, we were kind of busy figuring out stuff and forgot about it...," drawled Percy. Calypso rubbed her head with an irritated growl, and proceeded to think about Plan B. "You're going to find out what happened to that thing, and tell me at once," stated Calypso. Percy nodded, and bolted out of the door.

"I best mobilize the Legion for the search," boomed Reyna, also chasing Percy out of the door. "Well, it's just you and me again," smiled Leo, extending an arm around Calypso's shoulders. Calypso hid a smile, at least something good came out of this. But unfortunately, her visit to her father was going to have to happen slightly earlier than planned. Calypso jerked a nod to the piece of bronze on the floor, "Leo, you may want to reattach that to Festus, we have some work to do." Leo sighed, and blew a whistle around his neck. The ground shook as a bronze dragon appeared on the horizon outside of the door. "This is going to be an interesting trip," muttered Leo, hefting up the bronze piece and walking out of the door. Calypso turned back into the room, with a heavy thought on her mind. _"We're coming_ _for you Daddy, and it ain't going to be nice,"_ she thought.

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